Portfolio ass kicking time :)
HELP ME WORK OUT THE COLOURS ON PAGE 2!!! 
THX!!
http://www.sa.bigteo.net/index.html
ight v2 is up only some of the content for the mermaid is in, still need to add the home back and next button at the bottom of the content page aswell. not all the bars on the home page are final.
domain name and email will be changing soon. seems like the .blahblah.com part changes everyday for creating a domain on the site i''m using so i'm just gunna pick a name up asap
images large enough?.
style still looking gd?
all the links and the email work? ( feel free to test it out)
should i add a view all button under the other button?
did i miss anything?
anything else?
also started working on a new hard surface character which shouldn't take me to long, will make a thread for that when i get more into it.
_______________________________________________________________________
http://www.line.clod5.com/index.html
^^^^ linky
ok i should say my main aim is to become a character artist but you may notice that my portfolio contains other stuff. this is because from what i've seen junior character roles just dont exist, not that i wont be apply for character jobs but think having other stuff should (?) help my cause when looking for junior art jobs
still needs bio, resume, contact page ( anyone know how to make a quick and easy 1 with html? shit is confusing!!), info popup button for each page ( explaining what the piece is, polycount etc etc), 2d section has a couple wips in there for now which i'll be finishing soon, will also probably get rid of a few pieces from that section.
cool stuff section was an idea to show other not relevant but relevant work such as mods, videos and other work such as design and animation.
does the design work??
how are the colours?? ( pastel like on my screen, win8 style. alil darker/brighter on my phone)
does everything so far function right?
should i add or remove something??
how does it load?
how does it look on larger monitors?? ( working on a laptop)
anyone know how to make a hmtl simple contact form which i can connect to my email address???
anyone know how to make a site views counter that i can hide on a page somewhere?
( site that its uploaded to is free has alot of space, but on the downside its overly complicated to use for the above things)
anything else just ask/let me know!
THX!!http://www.sa.bigteo.net/index.html
ight v2 is up only some of the content for the mermaid is in, still need to add the home back and next button at the bottom of the content page aswell. not all the bars on the home page are final.
domain name and email will be changing soon. seems like the .blahblah.com part changes everyday for creating a domain on the site i''m using so i'm just gunna pick a name up asap
images large enough?.
style still looking gd?
all the links and the email work? ( feel free to test it out)
should i add a view all button under the other button?
did i miss anything?
anything else?
also started working on a new hard surface character which shouldn't take me to long, will make a thread for that when i get more into it.
_______________________________________________________________________
http://www.line.clod5.com/index.html
^^^^ linky
ok i should say my main aim is to become a character artist but you may notice that my portfolio contains other stuff. this is because from what i've seen junior character roles just dont exist, not that i wont be apply for character jobs but think having other stuff should (?) help my cause when looking for junior art jobs
still needs bio, resume, contact page ( anyone know how to make a quick and easy 1 with html? shit is confusing!!), info popup button for each page ( explaining what the piece is, polycount etc etc), 2d section has a couple wips in there for now which i'll be finishing soon, will also probably get rid of a few pieces from that section.
cool stuff section was an idea to show other not relevant but relevant work such as mods, videos and other work such as design and animation.
does the design work??
how are the colours?? ( pastel like on my screen, win8 style. alil darker/brighter on my phone)
does everything so far function right?
should i add or remove something??
how does it load?
how does it look on larger monitors?? ( working on a laptop)
anyone know how to make a hmtl simple contact form which i can connect to my email address???
anyone know how to make a site views counter that i can hide on a page somewhere?
( site that its uploaded to is free has alot of space, but on the downside its overly complicated to use for the above things)
anything else just ask/let me know!
Replies
Simple, gets the job done.
thx!
if your were to condense it down in your opinion what would go?
which areas do you find the navigation difficult?
in you opinion what would be the best way of highlighing the character aspect more without just sticking 'CHARACTER ARTIST' in big letters or a big picture of a character? keeping in mind i will have it within the bio block.
I would use larger images, even for the preview/navigation images they are quite small right now. also the layout messes up fullscreen for me see: http://i.cubeupload.com/iLZwix.jpg
Your title is pretty massive too, and I can't for the life of me read the graffiti bit. Seems like wasted space almost.
The work itself looks fairly good, can't comment much on the character stuff, but the environments look ok, though maybe a bit dark.
-Have the work like suggested above simple to access and in bigger pictures on the main screen.
-It can be condensed by removing some of the buttons and pages you have to just simple links or smaller icons
When recruiters and potential clients review portfolios they normally want to be slapped in the face with your work, go ahead and do exactly that.
Remember to keep in mind you will get remembered from your worse work so delete all that random 'other stuff' photoshop stuff and focus on what you want to become as a 3d artist.
urgh... now that sucky!! anyone else having that problem??.. anyone know wtf is up with that?? :poly127:
yea the ones on the home page are tiny probably going to chg them for something more fancy. are the sub category ones for each piece to small?? might just be me working on a laptop that makes them seem ok.. dunno?.. what about the main images for each piece? tried to keep the size reasonable so the loading time wasn't crazy.
yea you and tokusei got me thinking about the coloured bars and the tiny images. thinking get rid of the small images, and chg them into gif's. start with the colour to keep the theme, then fade to a image thats scrolling etc etc. what you guys think of that idea? maybe look alil crazy with the 3 different bars??
maybe chg the graffiti to something like above and just leave the bars?
is 2 clicks to much???
not really wanting to just crame everything onto the first page... hmmmmmmm
do you like the idea above of the animated images in the boxes?
u really think that the cool stuff section is really not needed?.. remember i'll b applying for mainly junior art jobs, thought it might show that little bit extra
http://www.line.clod5.com/mech_envir_Castle_01.jpg
thx will put that on my growing to do list!:poly142:
currently there are too many small images to click, and after I click one image, I need to click another image to see your works.
make it simple and bigger pictures on the index page
even one click to get to the actual art is 1 too many...
I really hate the Metro look of the site (I don't know anyone who likes the Metro stylings of Win8 so replicating that is only going to turn folk off instantly). Too many colours and shapes make navigation difficult - there's no obvious hierarchy or focus to the site.
Bio button and header are waaay too big and the thumbnails of the images are too small - it's a deterrent to browsing further if folk don't know what they're clicking on.
Also, 2 clicks to get into a piece of work - that's a lot of clicking just to see what someone came to the site to look at. Everything on your site excluding your characters is unimportant - folk will go look at your bio or CV if they like your work, which means they're there to look at your work first and foremost - so give it to them as quickly an easily as possible.
Same goes for the mystery meat navigation when in a sub-page - the icons aren't clear enough.
Site layout breaks on my large monitor, too: http://i.imgur.com/MViOf.jpg
"Cool Stuff" doesn't really belong on your folio site, I'd remove it all.
No texture flats or polycounts for anything? Seems a bit stingy.
Work-wise:
A lot of your environment textures seem really noisy and highly contrasted, this makes the end result seem focus-less and mostly just images of noise.
I'd perhaps not show your 2D work as it's sort of sketchy at best. If it's a concept for a character you made, throw it in with the character's page.
And site appears to have gone down so I can't comment any more :P
lol
site seems ok for me, didn't take it down..........
think i've focused to much on the design and creating a full web site rather than a quick in your face portfolio like most of you have said.
guess its harder for me to pick up most of the problems you guys are having with the navigation since i made it lol
so what i'm thinking is for the first page just 8 bars ( characters, bike and props) button to the bio/resume/contact and maybe the social stuff ( twitter vimeo etc)
are the images for each piece large enough? they where rendered at that size to save alil time since they took awhile. and to keep the load times down
was planning on polycount and texture sheets to, so they'll be in there
if you guys could post some examples of what you think is a amazing portfolio design wise that would be a huge help.
and thx for the feedback so far guys and the huge amount of extra work haha.. aslong as the final site comes out as good as it can i'm down to put the work in... keep the feedback coming i'll be updating/ remaking it as we go
http://www.timbergholz.com/
http://www.andreiszasz.com/
http://www.stevecoyle.com/
http://www.patricksutton3d.com/
http://www.torfrick.com/
http://www.mayvin.be/
and my own:
http://www.mystichobo.com/
I'd go straight to the character page as your index page (as this is your focus) and let folk browse over to your 2D/env stuff if they feel like it. Really, I'd recommend doing this very strongly.
I spent a fair bit of time designing and changing my own folio over the years - used to be a web designer so it's a bad habit these days - designed so it's straight to the pieces then within those there's all the info and a link to the next piece (so that a user can go from one to the next without having to "back out" to the portfolio overview). Google Analytics suggests this does work fairly well, most folk will go and click through a few pieces in a row without returning to the overview. Content's outdated and crap these days but I was happy with the design of it.
Overall, I think the nevigation is very risky. When employers are sifting through hundreds of portfolios and websites daily, and they come to yours, are they going to be excited or annoyed that you strayed from the typical navigation? I fear they would "next" it.
seems like a good idea for the amount of content you have. keep in mind what people have said about showing your unwraps and wires for realtime assets. maybe 3 links from the front page (env/char/2d) which have your work there so the user can just scroll through your content without clicking a metric fuckton of buttons. I've seen some folios where they have a "click here for all images" button so employers can just scroll through your entire folio on one page but it seems a bit overkill to me.
few links that you might get some inspiration from:
http://www.artemstudios.com/2010/gallery.htm
http://www.vivienmg.com/
http://littlelostpoly.co.uk/
Harsh as it is, I agree with this fully.
The drawings are absolutely the weakest part, followed closely by the characters.
The 2D stuff in general seems sloppy and rushed, and the anatomy, proportions, and perspective in basically every single drawing are either incorrect, unappealing, or some combination thereof.
The 3D characters suffer the same problems as the 2D, and add several other problems besides: The polygon distribution is wildly inconsistent, the poses are strange, and the materials are reading as something along the lines of paper.
If you want to be a character artist, then keep practicing and don't give up. I know it can be discouraging to hear harsh crits, but if you can get past the initial punch in the gut, you'll be a stronger artist for it.
You should absolutely keep drawing and modeling. If possible, take figure drawing classes. Try focusing more on form and gesture than detail for a while and you'll find that your more detailed work will get stronger. Try to use long strokes and use your whole arm, or even your whole body, when you make a line. You'll feel wildly out of control for a while, but it'll be worth the initial period of adjustment.
The current design is too busy, Icons on the left, Letters and preview pics on the right, colors drag up and down. The eye shouldn't need to scan the site that much to get to the reason the site exists. You sound like you want to keep the motif, but I'd really suggest keeping it as simple as possible. Clicking into an environment thumbnail brings up a new page of the same thumbnails?
I think Google Analytics has a feature for this.
@talon: yeah a next button seems like a useful thing to have in there!
@throttlekitty: thx i'll check it out
@zacd & swizzle: ass kicked lol... i do get were you guys are coming from 2d aint one of my best skills, and i'll probably keep most of that out bar maybe 1 or 2 concepts. i know the character work isn't great but you guys really think its better than the environment stuff?.. alot of that was alil rushed for a so called 20 person team project with 4 or 5 of us doing work. i know the characters could use more work and have a few problems but thats mainly down to not having a huge amount of time and a clear head to work on them over the past year or 2. i would go back and fix them, but i'd rather just keep going and make something new. if i have time before i send this out i'll add the new pieces, and i know i'd be better off having a piece i've spent enough time on but i would say i have around a month until i need to get this out.
if i have time to re render stuff again i'll take a look at the poses, lighting and materials
dont worry about the harshness lol i can take it. aslong as its helpful!
and thx for the advice swizzle
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8286/7740776698_fd4220b0f7_b.jpg
thoughts??
Remember that you will get remembered bu your worst piece of art. The director at Frontier said to me that 80% of their artists got their job by turning up with 1-2 pieces of art.
thx for the advice cottage i'll keep it in mind!
gunna try and get v2 up and running tomorrow when i get back home. what size images you guys think is best? some of them are rendered out at 2048 and the rest at 1024.... 1024 gd?
ight v2 is up only some of the content for the mermaid is in, still need to add the home back and next button at the bottom of the content page aswell. not all the bars on the home page are final.
domain name and email will be changing soon. seems like the .blahblah.com part changes everyday for creating a domain on the site i''m using so i'm just gunna pick a name up asap
images large enough?.
style still looking gd?
all the links and the email work? ( feel free to test it out)
should i add a view all button under the other button?
did i miss anything?
anything else?
also started working on a new hard surface character which shouldn't take me to long, will make a thread for that when i get more into it.
Pleeeeese lose the rainbow stuff. I would try limiting it to 1, maybe 2 colors. you want your art to be the centerpiece, not the color explosion.
Simplicity is key-
You could loose all of the stuff under the model thumbnails.
*no one is going to steal your work. If they do, you`ll be so famous you wont care/and or have the money to legitimately file a claim. Right now hiring a lawyer to go after a thief would be an unwise investment*
*ditch the counter. These were cool in the ninety's but if you really want to monitor your sites traffic, thats something that can be done behind the scenes.*
hmmm i kinda like the rainbow look, am i the only 1? lol... i'll make a few quick colour tests if you guys think i need to change it and post them up see which you guys prefer.
not sure about dropping the 'footer' part... to me it would make the site seem overly small on a full screen, although i cant really tell since i'm using a laptop.. dunno.
i just think its a good idea to deter people from copying my work... is it worthless?
i'm looking into other stat things right now.. having the counter there that links to the full stats just seemed the easiest way around it.
i'll put a pic up in the OP in alil bit so you can see where i started at.
the sideways thumbs are just temp the bike will have a shot from the front and the other one will be a shot of the level.
And yeah, too much colour in there. Your characters are pretty dimly lit on dark backgrounds, which means that the colour's actually the most visually interesting thing on your site (when that honor should go to the artwork itself).
Thumbnails are bigger, which is good, but still not very revealing. Also some of the content is sideways in order for it to fit into your thumbnail box? That's just weird.
The "SA" in comic font in all those colours is distracting, too. Especially as it's on all of your images, in the top of the site and at the bottom. It's not a distinguishable logo or even initials that'd mean anything to anyone looking at the picture. Generally you want your name and website/email address on your images so that if they're found in a context outside of your website, it's easy for the viewer to find you.
Too many images-as-links in your navigation, too. There's no feedback on hovering over any links to let you know instantly whether it is one or not. Simple text is far easier to do that with. Loads faster, too, and it can be read by search engines.
Also, image map links... that's kind of ugly, too. Especially as nothing has titles or alt text.
And there's really no need to link your Facebook account from your folio site.
footer is going bye bye, i would love to be able to make the header dynamic but i have no clue on how to do that, my dreamweaver skills are super basic, working pretty much in the design view port, and aligning things is a huge bitch. guessing it would need split into three pieces, 1 for left side that is aligned to the left same for right and 1 thats in the middle and stretches?... i have no idea
new colour combos coming after this post, will look into brightening my lightening and re-rendering if i have time
yeah going to take the sa thing off of the images, was just testing that out will replace it soon
is there anyway to do that with the images, i only really know how to add a link to just text a whole image or the hot link thing on part of an image?
image map links?, what i'm calling hot links?
yeah as you can tell i'm not that good with dreamweaver.. and i know it must be super annoying to someone that used to work in web devlopment!
thx again for the feedback!!!!
original
new colours
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3
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8
9
10
Also, 3 works best.
been a huge help!!
yea thats what i'm liking the most... think 3 is abit bland.. maybe the title and nav in the colours of 8 or 9 and the grey parts around the bars like 3??
i dunno what the rest of you think?.. dont wanna pick one myself in case you all hate it and i have to do it again.. again lol
you mean on here or on my portfolio? (most of the tabs dont have the links in yet since i updated the look, they'll be back when the new design is in)
anyone else got an opinion on the colour?.. thinking 8 is what i'm going to use...?
is there a way to place another image in the center that streches with the size, or could i have the design and nav images witout the bar behind and recreat the bar under which changes to the size as well?
also it messes up if the size is smaller than the two images.
unless its pretty simple think i might just leave it... not sure. thinking that the majority of people that it will be sent to will view it on a larger screen than my laptop, and it seems to view ok on phones and tablets...???
also updated colours to 8, wont take 2 long to change if you guys hate it
hows it looking now?
http://www.sa.bigteo.net/index.html
The Mermaid's face still creeps me out.
fixed anyways.. was down to the one of the photoshop layers being turned off by mistake
I just wanted to point out that in Internet Explorer (Hey - I am at work, this is all I have here! :P ) the image tiles have the blue border on them. Just specifiy border-style: none; for those elements and it should fix it.
yeah?.. any opinion on what colours you guys would use would be awesome!.. thinking about maybe changing it to a variation of 3 like talon said........hmmm?
THX! hadn't checked the new style out in other browsers yet, i'll get on to that now. hopefully i find the right place to put the code!
thx man!!. yea personally i prefer character work because its more of a challenge for me and seeing the end product animated talk etc is a huge payoff, but i still do like working on environments 2.
which order would you guys put my work in?
yea i was thinking about have a logo or something to make the resume pop more but after the ass kicking of the last set of wtf logos i made thought i'd leave it out.. with out making it huge or sticking it in the middle of the page how would u go about this?
you mean the link or the picture? (guess picture since it works for me) yea i'm going to be changing up the picture for the last three pieces, maybe all of them at some point soon.
yea i probably could of made this site alot quicker if i had started out that way but at least i know how it works (ish) if anything goes wrong, and i've focused on making it very friendly to update also. that and code the most of the time to me may as well just be made up jiberish lol
thx for the feedback guys!!!
11
12
13
14 maybe different logo thing?