Hi guys,

 

I have redesigned my portfolio. I went for a padding formal blocked style. Let me know what you think:

 

www.matthewfreeman.co.uk

 

Thanks

Other than a little padding needed around the text, looks great.

Without looking at how its coded, its clean, functional, clearly laid out, high contrast like you said, a strict colour scheme and a decent header.

 

Quite impressive and it says a lot about what you would offer clients it they were to take up your service

I agree with the comments about the padding, I think you need to pad the main content, and the sidebar including headers. It's a nice and clean site, I haven't tried to validate the code, but it looks very clean also, so good job there.

I do think the hover state on your menu could be a bit more obvious though. I can hardly make it out as it is. My only real criticism about the design itself is the silhouette. It makes the site a bit 'faceless' and lacking in personality IMO - have you tried to other images in its place? May be worth a go.

Very nice work here

I do like the silhouette but equally i understand what you mean, and i have been thinking about what sorts of other images i could include to 'spice it up' a lil. Going to have a go at the padding today, I'll keep you 'posted' (crap pun there sorry ).

 

Thanks for the feedback so far.

I do like the silhouette but equally i understand what you mean, and i have been thinking about what sorts of other images i could include to 'spice it up' a lil. Going to have a go at the padding today, I'll keep you 'posted' (crap pun there sorry ).

 

Thanks for the feedback so far.

 

 

 

I just noticed that the main page of the Dunstable College site is all aligned using tables - naughty, naughty lol

 

Good pf site all the same!

Ha yes indeed it is, but that is NOT my doing. It is an old site somebody else designed, that i just maintain, its clunky and like you said uses tables. It doesn't validate with anything, but the college has just outsourced the site to a company so it will be changing soon i think (hopefully for the better). Sharp eye though, well done for spotting it.

 

On a portfolio note, I have updated the padding and also changed the hover state on the nav bar. Open to ideas about images to insert on the page here.

It's functional but feels a tad staid. There's no real wow there. I think that's mainly because it's very blocky.. everything's very square and formal (except for the header image). There's no real sense of movement or continuity there, so it looks a bit lifeless. The good part is that you've kept the styling nicely seperate, so you can change that quite easily.

 

I'd look at adding contrasting elements to balance things.. eg, add some 3D-looking things to contrast the general flatness, or see how you can introduce some warm, bright colours to combat the all the cold colours you've got at the moment, maybe soften some of the sharp edges etc.

 

You also might want to change the 'logo' text. It kinda sets the tone for the whole site and while I like the clarity of it, it's way too heavy. You can drop the .co.uk part and do something a bit more interesting with your name.

 

I don't think the image of the standing man is doing much for the design.. it's a bit generic, and kinda reminds me of an estate agent for some reason. You can fit the 'web design' part in somewhere else if you want to make it obvious what you do.... actually, that's just made me realise something that's been bugging me. The design doesn't look like a designer's site. If you blocked out the bit that says 'web design', it could be about anything.

I may change the logo a bit but i looked at you site (Seed Design) and as for the comment "The design doesn't look like a designer's site. If you blocked out the bit that says 'web design', it could be about anything." is that not true for yours too?

 

I was thinking of taking some sharpness out of the site because at the momment it is very blocky, but I am anxious about where to start. Thanks for the tips though.

I may change the logo a bit but i looked at you site (Seed Design) and as for the comment "The design doesn't look like a designer's site. If you blocked out the bit that says 'web design', it could be about anything." is that not true for yours too?

 

To a certain extent, yes. There's not a lot that says it directly at any rate, but there are touches that do allude to it (eg, the dots on the top menu idea came from idea bubbles). The things is though, the site does look fairly unique and individual overall (leastways, I think so), where I don't think yours does at the moment (hope that doesn't come across as personal or defensive, it's not meant to be).

No it doesn't mate, and likewise, i didn't mean my response to be cocky of stiff-spined in anyways. I am going to tweak the design a bit more. Thanks.

 

Keep the comments coming in

Ok I have added some color to the banner, and made it look a little more lively. hopefully it does not look as "square" now. Using that term loosely of course

 

Gief Feedback plx0rs!

It's looking better now, glad to see some colour in the header:)

 

Have you thought about a background image, it could really bring your site alive!

 

Keep up the good work!

Nice tip. I previously toyed with the idea of a striped background but upon trial it looked tacky and demmanded attention from the eyes. I have used a faded out background that is quite blurred to get the eye to disregard it as out of focus. I think it really brings the site 'box' to life, makes it jump out at you. Thanks for that tip

much better! Helps finish the site!

I like it.... the colour scheme is nice, and the layout is clean. I would say on the other hand it probably lacks that 'personal' touch that I feel all freelancers require.

 

All in all, well done mate.

Without wanting to scare people off, I was thinking of adding a photo of myself on there. I do understand what you mean though, it is lacking character and WOW factors, at the momment it is just a pleasant site imo. Thanks for the advice