[Portfolio] Mark Lemmons - Game Artist & Designer - Site/Work Critique

cow1787

Hey all,

http://www.marklemmons.com

I put up a new site about a month ago and have been working on some new props here and there while I've been out of work the past 2 months  

Please critique my site, my work, my resume. Be as harsh as you'd like, I can take it.

Some specific notes I'm looking for...

• Is the site easy to use/flow from art to art?
• Is there anything I should scrap altogether? 
• Is there anything I should move higher up and highlight more?
• How do you like the sliders?
• On the VANISH page, there's 1 slider that shows in-game and wireframe lit... but if you hover over each side the in-game shows editor lighting and the wireframe shows wireframe plain. --- Is this too much? Stick to just the slider? Hover? Split it up so it's not all together? Scrap it all?
• What would you like to see more of?
• What would you like to see less of?

Thanks!

EDIT : I removed the whole 'hover' thing on the VANISH page, it was indeed too much. I have however expanded, added, removed a lot of images from the same page; utilizing the sliders to show the game lighting and editor lighting to get a better sense of what you're looking at - plus some wireframes.

Also adding some text - descriptions, explanations, breakdowns, etc. So let me know if you like that aspect as well.

Leinadien

Is the site easy to use/flow from art to art?
I think the thumbnails seem a bit too large, at least on my tiny laptop. Would be nice to be able to see them all at once without having to scroll down.
Is there anything I should scrap altogether? 
Hmmm, the lemon logo and the white background, sort of reminds me of dairy products. Feels a bit bland, but that is just my personal preference.
Is there anything I should move higher up and highlight more?
Those vehicles seem to be your best work, might want to move them up and present yourself as an expert at that kind of stuff, hard surface modeling.
How do you like the sliders?
That's cool.
On the VANISH page, there's 1 slider that shows in-game and wireframe lit... but if you hover over each side the in-game shows editor lighting and the wireframe shows wireframe plain. --- Is this too much? Stick to just the slider? Hover? Split it up so it's not all together? Scrap it all?
What you probably want to show is the topology of your models, so a slider for how it looks ingame and how the topology looks would be enough.
What would you like to see more of?
More complex vehicles, if I were you I would probably design the whole site around that kind of stuff. A darker site theme more in line with chrome and dark spacey sci fi stuff. Your site should inspire people and want them to hire you.
What would you like to see less of?
The milk packaging theme and some of those models/textures could definitely be improved. Not sure what you render them with but investing in marmorset toolbag to preview your game models might be a good idea. But it definitely has potential, keep up the good work. =D

cow1787

Thank you for checking it out and giving me some direction!

"I think the thumbnails seem a bit too large, at least on my tiny laptop. Would be nice to be able to see them all at once without having to scroll down."

• I resized the images on the front page, as well as tightened up a lot of margins and padding to make it a little more compact.

"Hmmm, the lemon logo and the white background, sort of reminds me of dairy products. Feels a bit bland, but that is just my personal preference."

• Haha, I held on to that logo for too long probably. It worked well with 'environment artist' and a play off my name, but I've since changed the text to be "Game Artist & Designer" to focus on more of what I do instead of just environments.

Those vehicles seem to be your best work, might want to move them up and present yourself as an expert at that kind of stuff, hard surface modeling.

• Move some pieces around, vehicles closer to the top. I definitely plan on doing more vehicles for sure! Thank you

What you probably want to show is the topology of your models, so a slider for how it looks ingame and how the topology looks would be enough.

• Not sure if you saw the page before or after I struck out that comment, but I've reorganized it a bit. I'll most likely go back in an simplify it even more, but I'd like to showcase in-game, 'unlit'/editor view to get a feel what what you're looking at, and topology.

More complex vehicles, if I were you I would probably design the whole site around that kind of stuff. A darker site theme more in line with chrome and dark spacey sci fi stuff. Your site should inspire people and want them to hire you.

• The site design itself, or the artwork? More vehicles for sure. I've change the site colors to be darker though.

The milk packaging theme and some of those models/textures could definitely be improved. Not sure what you render them with but investing in marmorset toolbag to preview your game models might be a good idea. But it definitely has potential, keep up the good work. =D

• "Milk theme" is out, haha. I agree on some of the models/textures. Are there any specifics? The desk fan is in the works and should be the last of the Office Items. I'd actually like to redo the Humvee as well, or do a texture retouch.
• A lot of the items are rendered in Unity. I'll look into Marmoset, a bit broke currently... but after seeing someone use the Marmoset Viewer only for their site...that looks pretty damn awesome.
• Thanks mate!