I really love what I do and how the online community is very helpful in regards to sharing their knowledge with everyone, and because of this I have really learned a lot in the past couple of years when it comes to web design. Well all those late nights have finally paid off, I have new portfolio website!

YAY!!

 

www.puredezigner.com

 

I spent some time really trying to get everything right on this one, it's made with css - not tables, validates in css and xhtml, and the javascript based navigation degrades nicely when javascript is not loaded. I just want to see what everyone else thinks about it. How I can improve it to make visitors experience a more pleasant one.

 

Thanks for your time and wisdom.

Any comments?

Short straw - you got me!

I'm not keen on the overall look - it's dark and looks dated with jagged edges, chunky buttons and gradient fills and the bold text in the opening paragraph isn't pleasant to read. The logo also looks very dated and doesn't fit with a web designer. If I were a prospective client I wouldn't be wowed by your design skills - which is really the point of a portfolio.

As for the copy - it reads like a string of clichés and falls into trap of passive telling all about yourself rather than active selling, differentiation and targeting potential customers.

 

Code wise... it might validate but it's semantics need working on. There are lots of "<h1 class=" and spans where there should be lesser headers like "<h3>" or whatever which would also help in SEO. There are also lots of divs and spans that could probably be eliminated for such a simple layout. This'll help cross-browser/platform compatibility, SEO and load times etc. Considering this is something you state in your copy that your designs achieve, it's imperative that your design is the pinnacle of this.

 

OK, that's my savaging (sorry if it seems harsh, just trying to help)... but all's not lost! I think there are some very nice touches and the layout is well-spaced and effective and I like the navigation effect (just ensure there's a hover effect if javascript is disabled). My advice would be to tone down the graphics, lighten-up the colours and work on the logo.

Forget about coding, forget about validating, and just for a second forget about copy.

 

When I looked at this website I thought, "it's a bit boring, but I guess it's quite good for a new designer - especially if they aren't too confident with graphics".

 

Then I saw your work. You're an artist! You're a confident, and rather damned good graphic artist!

 

I need to be aware of that the second I land on the page! You need to show me what you can do, push it to the limits, what's your favourite style? Use it!

 

Then, bring copy back, and excite me, entice me, make me want you! (To design my website that is).

 

Finally, worry about the techy bits!!

 

There is nothing *wrong* with your website, but it does not demonstrate your capabilities.

 

This is your portfolio, you need to inject a little you into it.

I'd be inclined to stick the Zen Garden example slap bang in the middle of the front page. It needs to scream "I am sh*t hot and this is why". Or failing that have two current projects not four. You'll be able to have bigger screenshots which will show off your work more.

 

Also choose a lighter blue for the body link colour, it fails the colour contrast test.

Upon first glance, your site looked like a Photoshop tutorial site to me. You definitely have the skills (which is evident from your portfolio). I just think you need to re-think the purpose of your portfolio, how you want it to be perceived when a viewer visits it for the first time, what do you want it to show and how do you want to display your skills.

I think the sites in your portfolio are excellent, I even bookmarked a few in my "Nice sites" folder. I don't think the site you have done for yourself is any good though as it looks dark and old style. Judging by your portfolio work, you can do much better.

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I will be implementing a new logo and recreating the current project area of the site. Also I wanted to get everyone opinion on something... I was thinking of taking the portfolio section and adding pages to it when the visitors click the links from the main portfolio.html page they will go to the details for the project then be able to view the project or screen cap. This will add more overall pages to my website and increase my SEO efforts ( I Hope ). What does everyone else think? Good ideas? Also if you think there are other more important things I should address, please list them.

I agree with Eris-you need to make the site stand out more as a designer so that the second I reach your site I am blown away with what you can do. Because chances are someone will visit the site and think it is boring nad not even click on the portfolio link and leave before getting a real chance to discover who you are.

I'm not saying change the layout-though I suggest you do something more to it-but even if you just add some portfolio examples to the front page so it stands out more.

I think right now the most important thing is making the whole site say WOW.

 

The portfolio page is the only bit that does that at the moment, why fix the only bit that ain't broke?

most current should be replaced by most recent

I agree with ErisDS.

 

Also, one thing that is really good is the fast loading time. It only took about 4-5 seconds to load your site. That's REALLY good.