First site - please review

Badu

Hi Guys

I'm trying to get a junior web design position and have applied for a few jobs to no avail. This is ok but i'm really beginning to think maybe its because my portfolio website isn't up the scratch. Can you take a look and maybe give me some advice on how to make it more professional maybe? Or some tips on what will impress future employers and make me stand out from the crowd?

This is my first site design. I started learning CSS about 6 months ago.

Muchos appreciation.

www.rosekeane.com

Axwell

Hi Rose,

first thing that hits me to be honest is that you call it your portfolio website but there arent any lives sites on it from work you have done. I know you are applying for a junior position but I think they would like to see some live sites to see what you have done, i think that would help a lot. Perhaps ask around friends and family who have businesses and try get a few sites up and running to fill out the portfolio.

I think your site comes across more as a personal blog than a portfolio of your work as a result of this as you have things like sites i like and what im reading. Definitely i would say get some live sites up and running and put together a portfolio to showcase these along with your illustation and design works.

I like your site as it is, its clean and looks nice etc but just comes across more of a personal blog to me than a showcase of your work.
Thats just my opionion however, best of luck with it.

forbairt

Hi Rose,

Axwell has pretty much hit the nail on the head with what he's said.

If it were a personal blog site I'd think its quite nice. Unfortunately you don't seem to have a portfolio ... just a few graphics. For me personally the site feels a bit too comic in nature.

You could try uploading those "websites" that you mention you've created in illustrator to your site so people could see them as coded examples of your work.

Try your friends / family / neighbours and see if anyone needs a website.

You're mentioning a lot of what you can do for people there but don't really have any examples of it. Put up your own business card if you've got one ... if not make one that you are happy with and add it to your portfolio.

Unfortunately trying to get a job without a portfolio is pretty tricky as people really want to see 3 - 5 examples of what you can do for them.

James

Badu

Thanks for the responses guys, I'm meeting my aunt tomorrow - she wants me to do a site for her and I have business cards designed but I just don't have the money to get them printed at the moment. I've also put an advertisment for my services up on gumtree.ie so perhaps i'll get something from that, anyone know anywhere else i can post my services?

I re-coded a site recently for a lady that was all in tables but i'm reluctant to put this in my portfolio section as she designed it-so copyright issues and all that.

It's tough because I really want to start somewhere but no one will give me a chance because I have no live sites - so it's going to take me ages before i get a proper job, i'm unemployed at the moment.

I'll take your advice on board though. Thanks!

forbairt

Badu wrote: »

Thanks for the responses guys, I'm meeting my aunt tomorrow - she wants me to do a site for her and I have business cards designed but I just don't have the money to get them printed at the moment. I've also put an advertisment for my services up on gumtree.ie so perhaps i'll get something from that, anyone know anywhere else i can post my services?

I re-coded a site recently for a lady that was all in tables but i'm reluctant to put this in my portfolio section as she designed it-so copyright issues and all that.

It's tough because I really want to start somewhere but no one will give me a chance because I have no live sites - so it's going to take me ages before i get a proper job, i'm unemployed at the moment.

I'll take your advice on board though. Thanks!

Vistaprint or similar are pretty cheap for business cards ... (20 - 30 quid I think) but if money is tight its tight ...

Still ... to make money you've got to spend a bit of money.

You could link to the site from yours stating very specifically that you've recoded from tables to divs / css

Adverts.ie always have people looking for sites and people posting saying they are available for work

Badu

forbairt wrote: »

Vistaprint or similar are pretty cheap for business cards ... (20 - 30 quid I think) but if money is tight its tight ...

Still ... to make money you've got to spend a bit of money.

You could link to the site from yours stating very specifically that you've recoded from tables to divs / css

Adverts.ie always have people looking for sites and people posting saying they are available for work

Ok, I'll post on adverts.ie and consider the business cards (free and just pay P&P!). I have the site linked through my blog and details surrounding the re-code etc...

p

Hey there. I'd echo what everyone else said. It's a good site. It's well coded, it's clean, it's pleasant to look at, and it works well. However, it's a personal site, not a portfolio.

If you want to get a It lacks focus. Currently it's trying to tell people about you, books you like, what you think on your blog, and a little bit about your work. You need to focus it. I would consider creating a portfolio on the site that's seperate that you can link to. Here's some recent articles I read about creating onlne portfolio's -- I think there's a lot of good advice there. The important thing is to create a portfolio that has one sole goal - to get you a job.

http://astheria.com/design/my-last-portfolio-sucked-yours-might-too
http://astheria.com/design/portfolios-that-accomplishgoals
http://www.lifeclever.com/10-reasons-why-your-online-portfolio-sucks/
http://www.veen.com/jeff/archives/000935.html
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2008/03/04/creating-a-successful-online-portfolio/

So that's the first bit. The next bit is to put more work in there. You're just starting out, so you won't have as much work as someone with a few years experience. But put whatever you can in there. Put that coding job you did in, but just say what job you did. Put anything you did in your course in there. Everything may not be as good as you'd like, but you need to have more work in there than 2 pieces. Also, try take on nixers, design a free Wordpress theme, enter design competitions to bulk up you portfolio too. Remember though, you're aiming to to create a Hire Me! portfolio to gte your foot in the door. You may want to make it more like a CV with your background & skills as much as a portfolio. You know XHTML/CSS well from the looks of things. There's plenty of jobs out there as an XHTML coder/Junior Designer, where you won't do much design, but will get your foot in the door and gain experience.

If you like, feel free to post up your CV too, as that's an important part of the job hunt too. We've all been there.

p

Badu wrote: »

Ok, I'll post on adverts.ie and consider the business cards (free and just pay P&P!).

Just a note. If you're going to design business cards for someone, they pay for printing and all costs. You're giving them cheap/free design, that's all. Also, even if you've designed yourself some business cards, it's not going to help you get a job, just add them to your portfolio. it can be all digital.
You can add some perspective tricks to give it context, if you like.
http://psdtuts.com/tutorials-effects/using-the-vanishing-point-filter-to-mock-up-a-business-card/

Badu

My cv is available through the 'my work' page, however it's not very design related.

My college course in multimedia was rubbish for website design or coding-they taught tables for gods sake so i'm afraid i've no work from then. I'll edit the 'about' page and try to focus it more on my services and abilities e.g coding. Thanks for the links too.

The wordpress theme is a good idea, i'll look into it today.

Looks like i've a lot of work to do

p

Badu wrote: »

My cv is available through the 'my work' page, however it's not very design related.

Ahh, yes. I see it now. Took me awhile to find it. It's definitely not a designer's CV. You've been out of the industry for awhile, so you need to focus less on your work experience, and more on software skills, design skills, and what you learned in college.
Also, I think you should make a more traditional CV. Designer's tend to over design their CVs. A nice simple CV that can be printed is the way to go. Here's some good ones for inspiration:
http://www.wmin.ac.uk/pdf/Daniel%20Nacamuli%20CV.pdf
http://www.gdbstudio.com/curriculum/CV_GDB_eng.pdf

Badu wrote: »

My college course in multimedia was rubbish for website design or coding-they taught tables for gods sake so i'm afraid i've no work from then. I'll edit the 'about' page and try to focus it more on my services and abilities e.g coding.

To be honest, I think you should ditch the current site as a portfolio. Keep it as a personal site, but make the portfolio a different sub site. Currently your site is trying to do everything. As an employer, they don't want to see someone's services, they want to see skills. A freelancer offers services, an potential emplyee offers services. I wouldn't worry if some of the stuff in college isn't perfect, or isn't web design. Mediocre work is better than no work while you're applying for jobs and trying to beef up your portfolio.

Take a look at a simple site like this. Important info about the person, then work samples. Simple, clean and to the point. http://www.chillouch.com/

Often designing for yourself is the toughest part. I've gone through about 10 versions of my portfolio over the years. Eventually, I ended up creating a very simple portfolio that's seperate to my personal site. I find I actually update it now. I keep it simple and basic and let the work do the talking. My current portfolio is aimed at getting freelance work rather than a job, but it might be useful to take a peek at all the same.


Good luck with it all - hope some of those tips are useful!

im...LOST

Badu wrote: »

they taught tables for gods sake so i'm afraid i've no work from then.

Creative Multimedia in Dundalk?

Badu

im...LOST wrote: »

Creative Multimedia in Dundalk?

Thats right hoi..

Podge2k7

TBH the site looks pretty good!

Moonstar

Badu wrote: »

It's tough because I really want to start somewhere but no one will give me a chance because I have no live sites - so it's going to take me ages before i get a proper job, i'm unemployed at the moment.

Why not create a small site for something you are interested in/passionate about?

You will have a live site then.. nothing ventured nothing gained yadda yadda

Badu

Thanks for all the help guys!

im...LOST

Badu wrote: »

Thats right hoi..

Aye, same as. I'm only going into 2nd year now though. I was looking forward to doing the more advanced stuff next year. I thought they were only teaching tables to begin with and then we'd learn CSS and stuff next year. Sigh.

Luckily, I got off my arse and learned some CSS by myself last year.

Badu

im...LOST wrote: »

Aye, same as. I'm only going into 2nd year now though. I was looking forward to doing the more advanced stuff next year. I thought they were only teaching tables to begin with and then we'd learn CSS and stuff next year. Sigh.

Luckily, I got off my arse and learned some CSS by myself last year.

Ahh well to be fair they did, it was all through dreamweaver though. And it's only the very basics, i'd advise you to keep on with the learning in your own time though,building sites in your spare time so you have a portfolio once you leave, they didn't put enough emphasis on building your portfolio when I was there-providing its web design you want to do?

im...LOST

I wouldn't mind doing it. It's interesting but I'll see what else takes my interest over the course of the years.