Need Feedback: Website
I'm taking a web design class right now, and our final project for it is a fully operational, live, etc portfolio site.
Right now I've got the layout finished, and some content up there... I need to dredge through my portable and find some good renders of old projects, and I still need to put a demo reel together.
The site is made in Flash with AS3... If anyone has any comments/feedback let me know... I think it's at a point where I'll get a good grade on the project - but I'd like to actually use the site and order some new business cards with the address on em, etc.
Also; if there's any works up in the gallery you think detract, let me know. I've got some little things I made in Maya up there, but my buddy says they aren't high quality enough... Oh - and I also need to whip up a resume to toss into the contact section.
Link: http://www.mattprangley.com/
Right now I've got the layout finished, and some content up there... I need to dredge through my portable and find some good renders of old projects, and I still need to put a demo reel together.
The site is made in Flash with AS3... If anyone has any comments/feedback let me know... I think it's at a point where I'll get a good grade on the project - but I'd like to actually use the site and order some new business cards with the address on em, etc.
Also; if there's any works up in the gallery you think detract, let me know. I've got some little things I made in Maya up there, but my buddy says they aren't high quality enough... Oh - and I also need to whip up a resume to toss into the contact section.
Link: http://www.mattprangley.com/
Replies
- Your thumbnails are very small and only show part of the image. I can't tell what some of these are, and if I can't see what I'm going to click on I might not click on it at all.
- There was no loading bar or image when the site was loading. Although it was brief i did wonder if the site was working. I'm on an 8mb connection so while not being the fastest it's fast enough. Slower connections might have to wait longer and decide that its not working before it's fully loaded.
- The website itself is so simple and straightforward that using Flash is overkill. You could reproduce it using HTML and while I understand that it was for an assignment, unless you will be persuing a web based path I recommend you create a static website.
As for the content itself, it's clear you have an understanding of 3d so it's just a case of working hard and pushing yourself!
Hope I've been of help
Don't build the whole thing in Flash.
Right now, your portfoilo is constructed primarily using flash, with some callouts to the javascript Lightbox application. And its not bad. The general look could definitely use some more polish, but it functions as it ought to. And that is a good sight better than I can say for some portfolio sites, especially Flash ones. But there is still a general consensus among most artists that Flash portfolios are for Flash designers. Unless you are specifically trying to show off your skill with Flash, than SWF files should always be used in an optional capacity. (they should be replaced with image links or something similar if the FlashPlayer is not installed)
One suggestion I would make is to have Flash load up a static image for your videos. Currently the video area remains blank, until you press the "play" button. You need to give the user a preview image. I would also consider settling on a color scheme to liven up the general design. Grey is safe, but it is also considerably less eye-catching. The proper use of color in design makes it easier to highlight important areas. For instance, having your buttons fade to a specific color, rather than black, would make them stand out from the rest of the options even more when you mouse over them.
As for your gallery, you really need to figure out a way to incorporate the LightBox's previous and next buttons. I know it has that ability. Having to close the window and return to the main gallery is a bit of a pain. It would be better to have the backwards and forward options in the lightbox.
I understand that you might be time-constrained on this, and starting over without Flash probably isn't an option. But once your assignment is over, you will seriously want to consider re-developing this portfolio site. I'm actually in the process of re-creating my own portfolio without any Flash. Get a hold of a book on PHP and a book on MySQL. Learning how to make a database-driven site will make your portfolio a lot faster and easier to update and manage.
@Carlo_C: What do you think the best way to do the thumbs is? Right now they're just cropped, and not scaled. I don't want to just do a traditional "thumbnail" where it's a whole like 1280x720 image scaled down to a 64x64 box... maybe if I took them back like 50% in size, then cropped an area of interest?
I'm working to implement a load bar now, but I'm having some issues... I've never had a SWF big enough to necessitate a load bar, but it seems pretty simple from what I've looked at so far - Just seems it's much easier to do on the front end of a project. (Yay! Learning the hard way! lol.)
@Richard Kain: I'm starting to agree with the not needing Flash - I am planning on rebuilding the site using limited Flash (For buttons and such) after the class is finished.
Getting lightbox to work inside AS3 was a huge pain, so I decided to call it good enough for now, without the next and back stuff, though I'll give that a look later and see if I can make it work.
I hadn't even thought to toss a preview image onto the blank screen... I just got the video switching buttons to work yesterday, so that's all pretty fresh still... I'll work this into the next build.
What do you think I should do for a color scheme? I like working with the shades of gray/whites/blacks because I like the crisp professional look it gives... Maybe just more lightening up on the overall color scheme? Make the buttons fade to white rather than black? Or do you think I should change over to a like blue-scale color set?
I don't know much (read: any) PHP coding. I managed to get the contact form to work, and that uses PHP, but I've never used it otherwise, and I've never worked with MySQL, but this sounds like a more dynamic robust way to do it... are there any books you recommend?
Also, thanks both of you for the time and opinions!
Ok, so I'm thinking [For the Flash build of the site]
-Load bar
-Improve thumbs
-Video preview
-Fully utilize Lightbox
-Review color scheme
and then in a month or so... harvest the site for parts and rebuild it!
Oh, I also wanted to ask - what is the general opinion on watermarks on images. My professor for this class has been saying I should cover up part of the images, to prevent people from photoshopping it out... but it seems kinda crappy to cover up sections of all my renders... In my gallery, the image of the plane made in Maya is how he recommended I watermark it... I prefer doing it more like the kitchen scene, in a corner where it won't detract much from the scene...
The whole point of watermarking is for credit. It is essentially a way to "mark" your territory. And it only really comes into play when someone else encroaches onto your territory. It's actually more important to properly back-up the source files than it is to watermark your renders. Even with watermarking, it's a matter he-said she-said when it comes to credit on an image. But if you have the original source files used to create the render, you possess the means to back up your claim. It IS a good idea to put copyright information on your images, though.
Also, it's a lot more convenient to just middle click on all your thumbnails and load them up into tabs then it is to wait for your interface to animate transitions to each picture.