Website Overhaul (critiques please!)

pangarang

Hey guys,

I got some fantastic feedback last week regarding my online portfolio. Since then I've gone back to the site, tore it down and rebuilt it from scratch. So I just wanted to let you guys know that, and if you could spare a minute or two, head over and take a gander for me and just check out the ease of navigation etc, your feedback would be greatly appreciated.

I don't mind critiques on my work (3D or 2D) either, but for the purposes of this thread, lets try to keep it at the website design and function, thanks! Here's the URL

http://www.joshuapang.ca/

Cody

Not bad. Personal preference-can't stand pop ups. Some people have them blocked. Also, back and next buttons would be nice, so I dont have to keep shutting windows and opening others to see all your work.

renderhjs

bad:
- 5 fonts faces (header 2x, WIP and Aliased Serif and SansSerif font on the left. Just 2 or at a maximum 3 would do better so it looks more complete
- outdated popups (main issue for me,- cant open it in tab + it gets blocked easily)
- wihtin a popup window nearly always scrollbars booth horizontal and vertical
- sub-categories (or so they seem) 'graphic design' and 'drawings' are hard to notice
- ugly WIP font- doesnt fit to the others
- minor thingy: black fonts,- I´d give them a very slight color or alpha change so they better fit into the background and overal colors,- they have a very strong contrast.

good:
- nice color theme
- no need to scroll on the main site,- most items work in terms of rank (1st thumbnails, 2nd title,...) - so there is not much confusion at first

EggE

hey pangarang, im going to echo renderhjs approach to critiquing your site.

bad:- pop ups for your artwork
- the thumbnails should be closer to the header
-should the header have soooo much information _name, occupation,email,demo reel, resume?
-also someone told me that WIP shouldnt be on your site just finished work

good: -consistant layout of your models presentation
-color scheme
-easy navigation (except from thumbnails)

suggestions: why not make the header bigger and put like a graphic in your header like a rendered image of a model. Also a logo, i dont know if its extremely necessary but it gives you an identity and your website some character so just think about it. hope i helped a bit.

pangarang

Thanks to all three of you for taking the time to visit and giving me valuable critiques. There were alot less bad comments this time round so I must be doing something right!

Cody - I understand where you are coming from with the pop ups. I chose to have them because my previous method of a lightbox didn't allow my pictures to be saved. I will have to go back to the lightbox however, because you guys are right - some people might have popups blocked. Better for employers to be able to see the pictures and not save them than not see them at all!

Renderhjs - I used 3 fonts; Franklin Gothic Heavy, Chapparal and Stencil (for the WIP and I fully agree with you on that one). I'm unclear as to what you mean by "aliased" though.

EggE - You've definitely helped me. The header has the bulk of the information people need to contact me, I understand. But do you really think it's that crowded? Since this heading will consistent within all the pages, I wanted to have them up there - make it very obvious how to contact me and anything else they might want from me like a resume. I didn't want to assume that the viewer would actively search the layout to find my resume or demo reel.

I had a logo on my previous version but found that it distracted from the pieces which were really the ones I wanted to show off. So instead of a distracting graphic, i went with a colour palette instead of give the page character.

renderhjs

aliased = hard pixel edges -> anti-Aliasing is the opposite. Not all Browsers aliase fonts, though I think it was even embededd into a picture. Anyway looked like a different font.

EggE

yea it seemed alitl crowded to me. I mean you could've put the resume link under your technical knowledge and your email link under that also. it makes sense because a potential employer is reading what programs your good at and if he wants to contact you its at the end of all that after he's checked out your artwork also of coarse. Just look at the empty unused space of the website and see how you could utilize it better.