Hello everyone. Here's my personal portfolio site which I offer up for critique:

 

http://www.bradabrahams.co.uk/

 

Perhaps some background would be helpful. I'm a 24 year old front-end web developer, and I've been employed in the industry for just over 2 years now. I got my one and only job at a small web design studio straight out of uni. At first there were just 3 of us (me, the MD, and a developer) but now there are 13 - so the company is doing very well. I'm the front-end lead, so I'm responsible for implementing and maintaining sites for our larger clients (the smaller ones tend to get done by the two junior front-end developers), as well as training the junior front-end guys, keeping abreast of new technologies, putting in place standards (such as naming conventions and QA checklists) to ensure that quality doesn't slip... you get the idea. I'm the front-end guy. I think that I have XHTML, CSS, and JavaScript down pretty tight. I also have some knowledge of SEO, usability, accessibility, all the usual things that go hand-in-hand with front-end development.

 

However, I'm not much of a designer. I'm not awful; I like to think that I have at least some flair for visual design, and I'm very big on making sure that designs stick to grids as much as possible. I guess you could say that I know a lot of the theory, and I can implement pretty much any design without a problem, but I don't have that "spark" which makes somebody an excellent creative.

 

This leads me to my problem. I have created a portfolio site to showcase my CV and examples of my work, and I'm happy with the front-end work, but the design is just a bit... uninspired. I would really appreciate it if somebody could give me some pointers as to how I can improve the overall look and feel.

 

Here's what I like about it:

 

• It shows that I can use modern front-end development techniques effectively.
  
• I quite like the PDF version of my CV. As we've established, I'm not an amazing designer, but I think that it is quite clean and effective. There is of course an XHTML version on the site as well.
  
• I like the accordion effect on the portfolio page, which I wrote myself using jQuery. It's completely unobtrusive; if you don't have JavaScript then you will simply see all of the portfolio items. Also, if you click on a portfolio link on the homepage then the JS reads the anchor in the URL and opens the relevant portfolio item. Sorry for going off on a tangent, but this kind of stuff is what I love to do
  

 

Here's what I don't like about it:

 

• The design is rather uninspired. It's functional and serves it's purpose, but I don't think that it really stands out from the crowd - and if I'm going to be applying for my dream job(s) then I think that this is important!
  
• The content is very traditional, in so much as it is "home / CV / portfolio / contact". There isn't much of a user journey. It just feels a bit bland. To this end, I am working on a page which explains my work process and the principles of web design and development that are important to me (my "work ethos", if you will).
  
• The contact page. It's simply a link to my email address, which isn't very good at all. I was thinking of adding a web form (I know C# and PHP so this wouldn't be difficult) but at the same time I don't know if a contact form is really necessary.
  

 

So, does anybody have any suggestions on how I can improve my site? I eagerly await your responses. Thank you in advance!

I'm guessing from the lack of replies that my site is perfect and can't be improved in any way? Awesome!

(that was sarcasm by the way, I just wanted to bump the post)

i like it, simple, easy to understand and navigate. There is a little bit of a lack of fun thoo, maybe add a contact form instead of just a mailto link??

It does the job but with no bells or whistles. In such a saturated market, you might consider making it stand out more. Nice, clean use of the slider and general layout/composition though.

Brilliant work (can't believe you've worked with Sky!).

 

But back to the portfolio!

 

Attractive and simple, but a bit boring? The Portfolio page should be your most visual page, and yet it's the worst one! Thumbnails please, sir!

 

Contact page, should be atleast a form to fill in, and give me a phone number!

Agreed, it is a nice clean site, but to an untrained eye who is not checking your code etc then it looks like a portfolio piece you pulled together without much thought.

 

You have obviously chosen 2 colours for your logo, I think you need to try and implement them more into your general site...

 

And I know you said you liked your CV but it is just black and white? Again why not break it up with the green as the headings, or a thin break line between each heading?

 

I would go for a contact form, as they are so simple to do, how about again making the entry boxes the green colour?

 

I think with a splash of colour it can be a really nice site.

Attractive and simple, but a bit boring? The Portfolio page should be your most visual page, and yet it's the worst one! Thumbnails please, sir!

 

Did you try clicking on the name of a client? It slides down to reveal a thumbnail and some descriptive text. But even so, I agree that it is a bit boring.

 

Contact page, should be atleast a form to fill in, and give me a phone number!

 

I think I'll go down the contact form route - it's been mentioned more than once. I'm not going to put my phone number or address online though, as I don't feel that it is very wise; this information is available 'on request' as mentioned in my CV. Of course, when I send out a CV direct I use a different version which has all of my contact info included.

 

 

Agreed, it is a nice clean site, but to an untrained eye who is not checking your code etc then it looks like a portfolio piece you pulled together without much thought.

 

You have obviously chosen 2 colours for your logo, I think you need to try and implement them more into your general site...

 

And I know you said you liked your CV but it is just black and white? Again why not break it up with the green as the headings, or a thin break line between each heading?

 

I would go for a contact form, as they are so simple to do, how about again making the entry boxes the green colour?

 

I think with a splash of colour it can be a really nice site.

 

Thanks for the design advice, this is precisely the kind of stuff I was hoping for! I agree that it's very bland - for some reason my designs mostly seem to turn out grey. I like the idea of incorporating green ino the design more, so that is definitely something that I will experiment with. I must admit that I like the CV being back and white (it seems nice and clean to me, plus it helps when printing) but I'll experiment with incorporating colour, especially if it helps keep the branding consistent. And again, the contact form is mentioned; I'll get on it!

 

Thanks for the replies all, I've found them helpful.

Unlike everyone else I love your site because of it's simplicity. Don't be fooled into thinking that all clients are impressed by wizz bang flash gizmo portfolio sites - many want the sort of simplicity that you demonstrate, certainly a lot of my customers come to me and tell me just that.

 

Two things I would suggest...

 

1. Put a proper email form on your contact page - it looks more professional than just an email link. Don't forget that many potential clients only use webmail!

2. I don't think there's quite enough content on the site. Not sure what but that's what my instinct tells me!

Maybe try to come up with a motto/catch line that you identify with. This way you show that you know what business/market you are in. This is part of creating your own personal brand identity.

For what it's worth, I have now added a contact form to the site.

Design changes to come when I get the time.

Is the site down?

Hi again Brad,

 

Apologies on the portfolio comments (kind of), I was opening the links in tabs, so all I got was the work itself. Having said that, I just viewed it how you wanted it viewed and one this is bothering me - why aren't they all open, constantly?

Hi again Brad,

 

Apologies on the portfolio comments (kind of), I was opening the links in tabs, so all I got was the work itself. Having said that, I just viewed it how you wanted it viewed and one this is bothering me - why aren't they all open, constantly?

 

To view them all at once, try turning off JavaScript. Personally I don't like it like this - it looks a little too busy? I think that having one open at a time keeps the focus on the individual piece, and lessens distractions. Also, the JavaScript accordion effect is kinda swish and I thought that it would be a good idea to include a nice piece of hand-written unobtrusive JavaScript to show what I can do in just a few lines of code, while still having it degrade gracefully (not that employers are necessarily going to be poking around the JS files, but you never know!) In short, I guess I just kinda like it? Not the best justification, I know, but there isn't much else going on visually in the site and I think that a little touch like this makes it slightly more interesting.