For Advanced Web Architecture we have been asked to create website portfolios for ourselves. I already have one, but I don’t really like it. (I didn’t like it so much that I didn’t even finish adding content, whoops.) As you can see, the design leaves some to be desired:
And so I have been working on new redesigns to fix up for the class. I really like the aesthetic I have going with the original, so I’ve been building on it to make it more sexy.
Here’s the first version of a flexible design I was considering:
It was still way too simple, so I continued to expand upon it.
I’m pretty pleased with how it’s come along. I’ll probably continue to change it, but I think I have the general look and feel down. I decided against flexible design because of the header I wanted and how it’d be so difficult to put together correctly unless it’s fixed. Overall it’s much less image slice-dependent than my other designs, so that’s kind of nice.
Constructive criticism is greatly needed!
I decided to review Ms. Sarah Winifred Searle’s work first. I love & admire her artistic style; I think she is a very talented illustrator & designer.
According to her blog, template I is going to evolve into template II. Both templates keep the same visual properties. I think the look defines her interests and skills very well; they play off of illustration, in which, Sarah is involved with immensely. For example, the pencil shading in the header and footer really add to that feel. Also, the sketched self-portrait in template II contributes to that as well.
Both templates are clean looking and well-organized. I really like how the links are divided into two layers. In template II, Sarah has the links that take you to other places inside the site
(relative links) on the first layer and the links that take you outside the site (absolute links) on the second layer. I imagine that once the template is established into a site, she will make the absolute links open in a new page. Overall, the links are balanced well.
In template II, I prefer the look of the extra links (on the left hand side) as opposed to them in template I. In particular, the news column looks more in unison in template II. This could be a personal opinion thing but it seems less congested than in template I. Also, I think that I would play around with adding a right and left border to the relative link layer. Again, it could be a personal taste thing but containing that information in some way appeals to me.