Finally a new portfolio site! Thoughts pleeeease?

Dave!

Hey guys,

I've finally designed a portfolio site that I'm happy with

Need to get to sleep or else I'll be a zombie in work tomorrow, but I'd love if ye could give me any thoughts you have on what I've come up with

http://davemcginn.ie

The actually portfolio section doesn't have a lot in it at the moment, and I've got a handful of minor things to finish, but I'm 90% there so figured I'd stick it up

Any thoughts on the design, functionality, bugs, etc., much appreciated

Cheers

Dave

S.M.B.

Not a big fan of the intro text but the fact that it's an inline image really isn't ideal. I'd use a better image replacement solution.

Apart from that it's a nice, tidy design/build.

tricky D

+1 for not a fan of the intro text.

Firstly it's gimmicky.
Secondly it has negative connotations, even if the negatives are crossed out. (a kind of linguistic thing about the way negatives are perceived regardless of context)

A lot of the copy is 'I', 'me', 'I', and not enough 'what I can do for you.'

\my 2c

JD RoX

Agree on the intro text - at first, wanted to leave the site straight away. Then started to read it and thought it's a bit funny, but is it professional?

Dislike the top pattern - looks "cheap".

In all fairness, it is very hard to deliver high standard dark website.

Dave!

Thanks guys

The website is a pitch for employers rather than for any freelance work, so I suppose I'm more interested in getting across a bit of personality rather than going for a sober (boring!) style.

I take on board the thoughts on the intro text... Just got the idea and went with it! I'm not sure what you mean about it being an inline image SMB? Would doing it as a background image be better? Bear in mind that I don't care about SEO for this site.

JD Rox, is it the background pattern in the header that you're not a fan of?

Cheers

JD RoX

Yes, that's the one.

S.M.B.

Dave! wrote: »

Thanks guys

The website is a pitch for employers rather than for any freelance work, so I suppose I'm more interested in getting across a bit of personality rather than going for a sober (boring!) style.

I take on board the thoughts on the intro text... Just got the idea and went with it! I'm not sure what you mean about it being an inline image SMB? Would doing it as a background image be better? Bear in mind that I don't care about SEO for this site.

JD Rox, is it the background pattern in the header that you're not a fan of?

Cheers

Yeah, given you can't use a font replacement tool then a background image would have to do. I understand how you personally do not need any benefits from SEO but there's no harm showcasing best practices to potential employers.

Cianos

Hey OP, just going to throw out a few ideas, hope some of it helps;

Overall the site looks nice in terms of style, but there are a lot of design elements keeping it from harmonising well.

The hand-drawn/sketchy style doesn't gel well with the slick metallic look. The styles are too contrasting and don't compliment each other. The eye is used to visual elements making sense and working together. When we see a wooden texture for example, we expect anything on that texture to be influenced in a way that we'd expect. The hand drawn sketchy style is not what we'd expect over a metallic type surface.

The arrows in the header for example are going over little holes in the texture...that's not how chalk would look, we expect to see gaps in the chalk marking where there are gaps in the surface. So it doesn't 'make sense' in the physical sense.

On the same note, the arrows shouldn't have a drop shadow, because we don't expect them to float in such a way. Sketching on something means marking the actual surface, so there shouldn't be any 3D effect to describe the upper layer being lifted off the lower layer.

So when you're going for a texture based design, you have to incorporate design elements that compliment and interact with those textures that make sense in the physical world, otherwise it just looks 'wrong'.

Other than that, I wouldn't use the Gmail icon for mail, as it's unnecessary branding that is interjected in to your own space.

Presumably being emailed is the primary call to action, so I wouldn't give it as much significance as 'Tweet me' either - so maybe put the Twitter icon elsewhere altogether.

The Taken script I kinda like, shows a bit of imagination anyway. But again the layer effects you have on the text don't work, I think it could look a lot nicer using the letterpress effect for example.

I'd also give the navigation menu a lot more prominence.

I'd put the 'writes code, loves design' below the logo (which should also be more prominent) to give the nav menu a bit more space to be noticed.

G'luck

Dave!

Thanks for the feedback Cianos, you make some good points, particularly about mixing styles and lack of consistency... I should probably give a bit more thought to the 'big picture' of the site, rather than just throwing together various unrelated things that I think look nice!

Trojan

Some great feedback from the guys above.

I do kinda like the idea of the Taken script - assuming your target demographic will be familiar with it.

Couple minor pointers:

The title tag of just the URL sucks for SEO, make it more descriptive, and make it different (and relevant) on every page.

The logo isn't really a logo, just a plain font with a shadow BG - have another look at how that's done.

The big picture in terms of design is definitely worth investing some time in. To me, this site says "coder who knows enough design to be dangerous" (or alternatively "coder with potential").

Put away the image and code editors and take some time to read/research graphic design and user experience, and some SEO basics. I also highly recommend reading Steve Krug "Don't Make Me Think" (like I do on just about every other review thread I post on )

HTH