Hello All,
I finished up my portfolio last week, and i need some critiques. Here is the link:
Http://avisualidentity.com
I am aware, that i need to change some pieces out, like switch magazines to websites, and make packaging a corporate packaging page. In fact i may need to change alot on it after hearing some good input, my goal is to open a design studio, and also become a design team member.
I am lucky though because i am an inhouse graphic designer for a company here in phoenix so i have all the time in the world to get my portfolio 100%, ALL FEEDBACK IS WELCOME GOOD AND BAD. Thanks!
My Portfolio
Hello All,I finished up my portfolio last week, and i need some critiques. Here is the link:Http://avisualidentity.comI...
&nsbp;
#2
harrisp9
-
- Designer
- 54 posts
Apprentice Designer
Posted 21 May 2007 - 03:03 AM
Hey CT (I have a friend nicknamed CT = Chocolate Thunder lol), great start on the portfolio! You're way ahead of me on that one =P Anyways I do have a few suggestions (but trust I am no expert, and you might be better off to ignore my advice)
First thing that I see is the colored pencil graphic, which definately helps to convey that you are a designer, but I feel that the colors of the graphic (the lightblue/teal/green/brown) conflict with that of the site (mostly red on black). Maybe if you changed the red text to a blue or green it would help (would you call this the color balance?)
Secondly, the first impression is very important. Here is the first sentence, "Welcome, you’ve reached avisualidentity.com. a graphic design studio." You should pay most attention to what kind of first impression you want to make. After ".com" you should use a comma instead of a period. I would also consider rewording this sentence all together, make it interesting and appealing. Personally I would avoid use of "we" (unless involving multiple people of coarse), and portray the site as "my" portfolio.
Third, I do really like the three clickable buttons to display an image, but I would be concerned about adding more to the portfolio. Where would you add it? There are a few solutions I could think of, such as adding a next arrow at the bottom of the previews, but this might become a hastle.
Just a few thoughts. Hope they help and keep up the good work!
-Paul
First thing that I see is the colored pencil graphic, which definately helps to convey that you are a designer, but I feel that the colors of the graphic (the lightblue/teal/green/brown) conflict with that of the site (mostly red on black). Maybe if you changed the red text to a blue or green it would help (would you call this the color balance?)
Secondly, the first impression is very important. Here is the first sentence, "Welcome, you’ve reached avisualidentity.com. a graphic design studio." You should pay most attention to what kind of first impression you want to make. After ".com" you should use a comma instead of a period. I would also consider rewording this sentence all together, make it interesting and appealing. Personally I would avoid use of "we" (unless involving multiple people of coarse), and portray the site as "my" portfolio.
Third, I do really like the three clickable buttons to display an image, but I would be concerned about adding more to the portfolio. Where would you add it? There are a few solutions I could think of, such as adding a next arrow at the bottom of the previews, but this might become a hastle.
Just a few thoughts. Hope they help and keep up the good work!
-Paul
#3
Create This
-
- Guests
- 53 posts
Registered User
Posted 21 May 2007 - 03:25 AM
Paul, Hey thanks alot for the feedback! I chose those colored pencils because i thought it would bring some contrast with the red. I will definatly play around some with the color of the text though.
Yeah i do need to change the text and punctuate it better! English has never been my strong point. As far as the we's are concerned yeah now that i think about it i thought it would sound more professional but it is just "I" so i have alot of re writing to do! UGH im not good at all with writing.
I was thinking for the buttons once i get some more quality pieces to actually turn them square instead of rectangle and making a max of 6 per page. I was stressed alot in school and by other designers to not "overload your portfolio and 10-12 pieces is ideal. I personally thought that was not eneough so i was thinking of going with squares? 2 per row maybe? not sure, once i get some more quality work done ill decide what to do.
Hey once again thanks for the comments i will definatly mess around with it some more!
Dave
Yeah i do need to change the text and punctuate it better! English has never been my strong point. As far as the we's are concerned yeah now that i think about it i thought it would sound more professional but it is just "I" so i have alot of re writing to do! UGH im not good at all with writing.
I was thinking for the buttons once i get some more quality pieces to actually turn them square instead of rectangle and making a max of 6 per page. I was stressed alot in school and by other designers to not "overload your portfolio and 10-12 pieces is ideal. I personally thought that was not eneough so i was thinking of going with squares? 2 per row maybe? not sure, once i get some more quality work done ill decide what to do.
Hey once again thanks for the comments i will definatly mess around with it some more!
Dave
#5
Create This
-
- Guests
- 53 posts
Registered User
Posted 21 May 2007 - 02:44 PM
Paul
You know what i did. It was a great experience, like any field of study it has its good courses and bad courses but all and all im glad i went. Infact im registering this fall to ASU (arizona state university) to continue my education in design.
School allowed me to make mistakes that i could not make in the real world, well i could but at the expense of a client. I learned alot of shortcuts to things and got a good grasp of the principles of designs. These days with so many designers out their it never hurts to get that piece of paper that may someday get you the job over somebody who may not have it. Most jobs (as far as in the corporate world) require 4 year degrees or at least 2 year degrees with some years of experience in the field. I would Definitely recommend going to a school, especially a good university.
If you cannot afford going to a good school, their are a ton of great books out their you can get at amazon.com (as cheap as 3.00 used) that have great insight and have also taught me alot. If you want any titles let me know and i can recommend some.
hey gotta run off to work, thanks again for the critique!
You know what i did. It was a great experience, like any field of study it has its good courses and bad courses but all and all im glad i went. Infact im registering this fall to ASU (arizona state university) to continue my education in design.
School allowed me to make mistakes that i could not make in the real world, well i could but at the expense of a client. I learned alot of shortcuts to things and got a good grasp of the principles of designs. These days with so many designers out their it never hurts to get that piece of paper that may someday get you the job over somebody who may not have it. Most jobs (as far as in the corporate world) require 4 year degrees or at least 2 year degrees with some years of experience in the field. I would Definitely recommend going to a school, especially a good university.
If you cannot afford going to a good school, their are a ton of great books out their you can get at amazon.com (as cheap as 3.00 used) that have great insight and have also taught me alot. If you want any titles let me know and i can recommend some.
hey gotta run off to work, thanks again for the critique!
#6
slamstudio
-
- Designer
- 9 posts
Apprentice Designer
Posted 21 May 2007 - 02:57 PM
Hi CT
First of all, I like the Oscar Steak House Design in your packaging section and the Movado Brochure.
One thing you might want to see into is that your layout has some problem in Firefox which Im using to surf. I think it is the problem of using your top banner as background image? (esp logo page) because it repeats at the bottom. Anyone else have this problem?
Seeya ard~
- nix
First of all, I like the Oscar Steak House Design in your packaging section and the Movado Brochure.
One thing you might want to see into is that your layout has some problem in Firefox which Im using to surf. I think it is the problem of using your top banner as background image? (esp logo page) because it repeats at the bottom. Anyone else have this problem?
Seeya ard~
- nix
#7
harrisp9
-
- Designer
- 54 posts
Apprentice Designer
Posted 21 May 2007 - 03:48 PM
SlamStudio - I'm sorry, I don't see what you're talking about? I'm running Firefox too...
CT - Yeah if you have any book titles would be great! That's pretty much how I learn anything (or first hand experience). I'm actuallly a pre-med student at MSU right now, but I've thought about switching to this design business =P
-Paul
CT - Yeah if you have any book titles would be great! That's pretty much how I learn anything (or first hand experience). I'm actuallly a pre-med student at MSU right now, but I've thought about switching to this design business =P
-Paul
#8
slamstudio
-
- Designer
- 9 posts
Apprentice Designer
Posted 21 May 2007 - 04:56 PM
SlamStudio - I'm sorry, I don't see what you're talking about? I'm running Firefox too...
CT - Yeah if you have any book titles would be great! That's pretty much how I learn anything (or first hand experience). I'm actuallly a pre-med student at MSU right now, but I've thought about switching to this design business =P
-Paul
oh if it's not browser issue then im not sure the problem. but u can see my attached screen shot what im seeing here.
i don't think the footer is meant to overlap with the image like that?
- nix
#9
Create This
-
- Guests
- 53 posts
Registered User
Posted 21 May 2007 - 06:20 PM
Slam ~ Thanks for checking that out for me i had not idea, what version firefox you running? Ill do some debugging tonight when im off work! Thanks for the compliments on the work too.
Paul ~ Pre-med? I was always told and learned from experience that you must enjoy your job more than anything including the amount of money you may receive. Decide what you really love to do before making a career change like that. I know i got my first degree in networking and hated it, so i started over and went to design. Id probly be alot better off financially if i stuck with networking but i just didnt want to be confined to an office all day waiting for things to break or cords to become unplugged.
Im telling you straight up financially you will do alot better in med, but if you love design like i do the amount of money you make wont matter cause you love what you do. If anything teach yourself some stuff, read some good books, and in your spare time get a portfolio going. Treat it as a hobby not a career and i think youll find the best of both worlds juggling med and design!
ps when i get back tonight i link you some books on amazon that are a great price and very good!
Paul ~ Pre-med? I was always told and learned from experience that you must enjoy your job more than anything including the amount of money you may receive. Decide what you really love to do before making a career change like that. I know i got my first degree in networking and hated it, so i started over and went to design. Id probly be alot better off financially if i stuck with networking but i just didnt want to be confined to an office all day waiting for things to break or cords to become unplugged.
Im telling you straight up financially you will do alot better in med, but if you love design like i do the amount of money you make wont matter cause you love what you do. If anything teach yourself some stuff, read some good books, and in your spare time get a portfolio going. Treat it as a hobby not a career and i think youll find the best of both worlds juggling med and design!
ps when i get back tonight i link you some books on amazon that are a great price and very good!
#11
Create This
-
- Guests
- 53 posts
Registered User
Posted 22 May 2007 - 04:41 AM
Paul - go check out the thread recommend books for the graphic designer thread i started it in the design chat section, you can find all these books pretty cheap on amazon.com just get them used theirs usually a huge price difference. I picked up elements for graphic design for 3.29 USED about 6 mo ago, its not that cheap now but youll see what i mean!
#13
Create This
-
- Guests
- 53 posts
Registered User
Posted 28 May 2007 - 05:02 PM
Thanks alot Jamess! I appreciate the postive feedback!
Check Out My Portfolio @ www.avisualidentity.com
#14
Create This
-
- Guests
- 53 posts
Registered User
Posted 14 June 2007 - 01:56 AM
Everyone, please vote for me to be a design team member it would be greatly appreciated!!!!!
http://www.designcon...read.php?t=7505
http://www.designcon...read.php?t=7505
Check Out My Portfolio @ www.avisualidentity.com
1 user(s) are reading this topic
0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users
