portfolio/site redesign

melkior

Greetings....

So I redesigned my portfolio ; I took one of Jon's suggestions and focused on one of my skills instead of all 98 and therefore the material was greatly trimmed down. I also just started a site redesign .. so some of the other portions of the site are lacking in content in certain areas...and I'm still doing a little bit of color matching here and there if you see some background and graphics that dont blend I probably know about it already.

http://www.studio-erebus.com/sesite/home.html

I'd like to note that almost every time I sent off my old resume/portfolio I got interviewed at least on the telephone - but I have yet to nail down a full time position. And I think from my interview with Tod Howard of Bethesda that part of that reason is the previous diversity that I displayed - in textures, level design, 3d modeling, character modeling, and more.. he asked what I thought I'd be best at .. and I gave a wishy washy answer coming around to saying " well all of them" hoping id get hired. I think the end effect was that he didn't know what to do with me and I did not get hired.

So please take a minute .. check out the new design and see if its TOO simple.. as it does to me in a fashioni? Does it show some strength and some diversity in the area of character design - but a clear focus in character design at the same time? I hope so - thats what I'm shooting for.

And heres my old one for reference: http://studio-erebus.com/studio/portfolio/carlkidwell.html

Thanks in advance.

aesir

Ok, heres my biggest critique, why or why are you rendering out your images on a white background? A neutral grey looks so much nicer...

gauss

i'm with aesir--the models and skins are neatly presented, but the white is too harsh. that first black-clad soldier model especially suffers, since the white stops us from appreciating the detail you've put in the skin. colors change a LOT depending on what color you put next to them so keep with the format, but as suggested, go with a more neutral grey color for the background.

melkior

Because word is that art directors/managers and human resource people print out your work and hand it around the office. And if its on white its an easy print out . If it has colored background they may not print it.

And I've been to about several in person interviews including Konami of America, Atronic and EA where I saw in person they had printed off my pages.

So it seems like a solid choice from experience.

MoP

I would say ditch the white. If people are gonna print off, they're gonna print off. Go with a light grey maybe with a subtle blue/green hue - doesn't waste printer ink if they want to print it, and makes it much easier to see texture details on screen.

Chances are they'll have someone looking at your work on screen first anyway - it's not like they randomly go to sites and download images to pass around without checking the art quality online first.

The main reason for saying this is because the very first image there is a SWAT style guy with really dark (almost black) clothing texture, and that's just getting totally lost against a white background. It looks like a solid mass of black. A more neutral background (like light grey) would allow the texture detail to show a whole lot better.

Apart from that, it's a good setup and good images. Definitely change the white, though.

cholden

Hey Carl, nice to see you cleaned this site up. Initially, black on red doesn't read well (ask any sign maker). Everything sort of blurs together on your main page. Black drop shadow on a black border doesn't help the cause. You may consider changing your overall color scheme. This is REALLY handy:

http://www.webhelps.com/help/colorscheme.html

I have to agree about the white background. Especially considering over half your portfolio consists of characters dress in primarily black. Yes, I too have applied to jobs and had my work printed on paper with a lovely gray background, and it looks great. Wire frames wouldn't hurt as well as some pieces to show a command of higher detail.

You may want to put “Character Artist” on your page, then when they ask what's you're strongest skill, say that. Basing this on the fact that everything here is a character. And a piece of friendly advice, name dropping isn't a defense.

poopinmymouth

If you want, put up all your images as gif's with transparent backgrounds, so that when you print, it comes out white. Maybe png's have that same ability, I don't know as I've never used them. I think the red of your site is a little strong for easy viewing.

melkior

Thanks for the feedbacks guys. I'll have to do some testing to see if I can come up with a transparency like poop suggested as its the best suggestion that can fit with what I had in mind. The blackops character is kind of "blinding" now that I look at it again so I appreciate those suggestions.

Also Chris ; the color Scheme creator is quite good - however if you go choose a red like the main red I have and choose the drop down on the right and do "monocrhomatic" then youll have pretty close to the exact colors I used for my site except the darkest red I took all the way to black.

You should notice the F77B7D and F7B9BA colors used on the site logo and menu bar at the top.

What I hadnt really considered was the possibility that theres a good percentage of people out there with red/green color blindness - I would hope no one with that problem is evaluating my artwork but maybe red wasnt the right choice afterall

Thanks for the color choice feedbacks. Any comment on the presentability as a character artist ?

melkior

[ QUOTE ]
And a piece of friendly advice, name dropping isn't a defense.

[/ QUOTE ]

Chris ... sorry that I've had some interviews at professional studios if that upsets you. However they did indeed have print outs on hand of my portfolio pages; and I consider it a factor of importance that it happened more than once.

I dont' consider that a defense, it happened. Its called a fact. Its the factual reason that I continue to attempt to make sure any portfolio piece can be printed. If the blackops is too high contrast I can adjust that and appreciate the feedback - but it seems like a cheap stab to imply that having a white background is indefensible because I dropped a name? Have I done something to offend you personally?

poopinmymouth

What I'm sure Chris meant, is that you didn't need to drop Todd's name in order to make the point. You could have said you've been told before by studios that they print out your work. Mentioning his name just makes it sound like you want people to know you've interviewed with him.

Funny I should give advice on that since I'm probably the worst name dropper there is, but that's what he meant I'm sure. I doubt very seriously that Chris has a problem with you having interviewed at Bethesda, since cholden is pretty much in charge of his own game, and has several shipped titles under his belt. It was meant to be friendly advice, not an insult or belittlement.

Also on the color scheme, I would not put in that red as your main color. You want the website to take back seat to your content, so pick something more neutral and subdued. A good rule of thumb is to not go much past about 50% saturation for you background. Right now my bleeding eyes suggest you're close to 255,0,0

cholden

haha, Why so defensive? I know you saw winky <- you even put him in quotes, generally defined a previous statement as a joke or rib. Calm down, dear.

melkior

[ QUOTE ]
haha, Why so defensive? I know you saw winky <- you even put him in quotes, generally defined a previous statement as a joke or rib. Calm down, dear.

[/ QUOTE ]

bwahahhaha a winky is not a defense
and i am calm - do you even remember who I am? lol.

slaine/melkior/carl

cholden

I know exactly who you are, that's why I'm all "why is this guy freakin'?" :P

As for character artist's presentation, I like to see wireframes so that I can see the artist's grasp on mesh control. Your polycounts and silhouettes look even, but a wire adds so much more.

One thing that might help is the presentation of a bulk performance track record. For example, have a look at Poop's portfolio. From different projects he has bulk works, such as characters, hats, hair cuts, env props, etc. To an employer, this not only says "he can do it", it says "he can do it consistently", and that's very important. The four military/swat characters have a lot of similarities, as though they could be presented more in this fashion. The Marvin skins are a step in that direction, but rendered so small I'm not sure how much they help. The downside to pooling your work might make it seem like you have less stuff, but you're the man for the job, pump out some fresh characters. The people around here are always more than welcomed to help push your abilities.

Nevertheless, this portfolio looks well and good for landing interviews.

melkior

[ QUOTE ]
I know exactly who you are, that's why I'm all "why is this guy freakin'?" :P

[/ QUOTE ]

Okay cool - maybe I overreacted then? I just thought we were at least associates ... if not in the past friends and the comment felt hyper critical which is why I asked if I had personally offended you or something?

Apparently just a case of the internet misunderstanding what everyones typing's intent.

peace bro and thanks for taking the time to help me I appreciate it.

PolyMonkey

Much better than your old site. I would just ditch the red like poop suggested and go with something more neutral. The red bkgd just makes it hard to focus on your work.