Blog Post VII

Do you intend to follow all 10 tips that Smashing Magazine suggests? Why or why not?

I intend to follow 9 of the 10 tips that Smashing Magazine suggests. The only tip I probably won’t incorporate into my website is the blogging tip because I feel that showing my recent work in my online portfolio rather than blogging about it would be more beneficial to viewers and myself. It would save me time and sharing my work in a more visual format would help potential clients to actually view my work as well. Besides, I’m not big into blogging… unless it’s for my DTC 355 class of course 

Also, make sure to explore the “40+ beautiful personal portfolio websites. Which sites are your favorite and why? What would you need to learn/know in order to make this type of portfolio?

I personally enjoyed viewing Alexandru Cohaniuc portfolio because I felt his website interface was creative, visual and still easy to maneuver around. I felt the colors were bright but not overwhelming and I like the contrast of the white on the black background. In addition to this site, I also liked website that had a visual element in the middle, with navigation at the top but also incorporated picture links at the bottom. I think Digital Mash (Rob Morris) does a great job of adding personal graphics that promote his skill and creativity. Although the color scheme of the website apart from this main graphic is rather plain, the simplicity keeps it professional. Lastly, I like Cartonblanc because the site is out of the box and imaginative. The graphics are fun and inspiring and the few words used support the visual images rather than take away from them. 

Unfortunately, I chose sites that seem the most complicated to me in terms of design templates. Considering my weakest point is CSS, envisioning these sites, adding my personal twist and implementing this into my portfolio seems rather discouraging. But considering 6 months ago I didn’t even know how to use photoshop, I think I can pull something like this off. Especially with Alexandru Cohaniuc, I would need to learn how to incorporate more advanced placement since this site includes work, contact info and an about section all on one page. Plus, I would need to make a lot of customized graphics for backgrounds and learn how to add the tab effects on the portfolio side.