Old 10-6-2011, 09:20 AM   #1
Mythix
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Default Starting a portfolio/website

Allright time to take this seriously.

I've started a portoflio/website, started it through wordpress, bought a cheap theme (just to get something fully customizable) and then I upgraded to a personal domain for like 15 bucks.


www.lasselundster.com

I'll add tabs like "best of" or "portfolio" whenever I have enough for an actual reel, for now it's more of a blog.

Anyways, I need CC on it. So, burn me some so I can improve it! Doesn't exactly stand out of the crowd at this moment.


PS: don't make a point of me making yet another car :\

EDIT: Perhaps add the link when I make a post like this lol.
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Old 10-6-2011, 02:48 PM   #2
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Default Re: Starting a portfolio/website

Here's my CC and general tips.

Banner:
For a blog, a banner is usually what catches people's eyes. So make one that really stands out by prettying up (one of) your best picture(s) with post render effects and what not. (Do not make a stepmania banner though lmfao)
Keep the post-processed banner as your main banner instead of cycling through a few banners. This is what draws people's attention, your content is what keeps people's attention.

Portfolio page:
Definetely make a portfolio page. It doesn't matter if you don't have that much yet. Make one that is easily updatable and show things like texture maps as well. Companies will want to look at that.
If you don't have much to show for now, don't add empty slots/thumbnails because they will give a negative feel to your portfolio. Only add slots/thumbnails that are actually filled.

Consistency of work:
For your images, make a template background to put your work in. With this you'll make your work look more consistent and a part of you.
example:


However, make something that fits the theme of your website. So don't go making something like this elder scrolls background because your blog is more technological looking than it is ancient/magical looking.

About the content:
The observation drawings, the KIT Bashing and the book render I'm kinda iffy about because your 3d cars look great, but the ones I mentioned not as much. This content kinda detracts from the quality of your other works.
Be very critical of your own work and only show off your best works, because when a possible employer looks at your website, even if you have 100 good things, if you have 10 bad things, chances are the employer will remember those instead.
That's another point, don't oversaturate your portfolio with work. Showcase your best works in your portfolio. Content on a blog is a different story I guess though.

Back to the blog:
The design itself is pretty sleak. Maybe you can do something fancy with the background though because that one is pretty boring. The color orange is also kind of dirty but that may be my monitor. You could look into it.
I also noticed there's no mouseover on the post titles. Visual feedback of where the mouse is is very important.

you should get a sorting button to sort on all of your final images for example so people can easily browse the blog.
You should also fix that bar with the about and contact to be the same size as the rest of your content. It's kinda distracting this way.

When I go to your about and contact page, there's no apparent way to get back to the blog again. The banner is the only option and it's not the most obvious one because it's considered a graphic, not a button. It's good to have it as a button but you should also make a button in the menu to go back to your blog.

When opening images, it goes to the image url. I would suggest using something like a shadowbox or lightbox for people to browse images. shadowboxes/lightboxes are also very sleak and will compliment the design of your blog since it's also sleak.
What you currently have requires you to constantly go back to the previous page which gets annoying.

I suggest making a little info box with a bit of information about you on the side as well. Include things like:
Name:
Age:
Profiencies:
Phone number:
E-mail address:
A page needs to be accessible as possible, so why not let people know the information immediately when they go on the blog? If they are really interested they can read more on the about me page which you can link to.


Hope this stuff helps.

PS. this reminds me, I need to make a new portfolio website myself badly lmfao. Haven't updated it in over a year or something.)
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Old 10-6-2011, 09:55 PM   #3
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Default Re: Starting a portfolio/website

I personally think the template you have is way too vertical for a portfolio site. Ideally there should be a gallery of images that link to a more detailed page of the specific portfolio item, IMO, so they don't have to scroll all the way down to see what you've got. If the first few items on the page aren't your best, they aren't likely to keep scrolling.

Typography of the banner should be far less generic. Make it relevent to your page. Make it CG text if it's a CG blog, something that gives a taste of what else is on the page.

How much did you pay for the theme? I'm only 4 classes into my HTML/CSS class at school and I could make that from scratch in a couple hours :P aside from the leaving comments/posts and stuff... haven't learned that yet. But it can't be too hard.
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Old 10-6-2011, 11:10 PM   #4
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Default Re: Starting a portfolio/website

Quote:
Originally Posted by Spenner View Post
I personally think the template you have is way too vertical for a portfolio site. Ideally there should be a gallery of images that link to a more detailed page of the specific portfolio item, IMO, so they don't have to scroll all the way down to see what you've got. If the first few items on the page aren't your best, they aren't likely to keep scrolling.

Typography of the banner should be far less generic. Make it relevent to your page. Make it CG text if it's a CG blog, something that gives a taste of what else is on the page.

How much did you pay for the theme? I'm only 4 classes into my HTML/CSS class at school and I could make that from scratch in a couple hours :P aside from the leaving comments/posts and stuff... haven't learned that yet. But it can't be too hard.
Hey

It's the BLOG part there, I'll have to add tabs for more black-and-white information, such as Portfolio, About me, Blog, Index for instance.

I payed like 15 bucks? That's including domain name, and through wordpress I do have like 30 other free templates to chose from though but I think like you do, can just customize it myself.


@Spitfire, I would quote your stuff but too long xD:

Banner is my 4 best pictures imho, and it's a random one each time you update my site.

The KIT bashing will be removed, I agree, I'll leave the book though because it's very texture heavy and it meets the criteria I got for it perfectly even if it model wise is lame =p

About tabs and navigating, thanks, that's some excellent tips. I'm not sure how to get the mouseover part but the rest I can look into =p

Thanks alot guys
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Old 10-7-2011, 12:24 AM   #5
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Default Re: Starting a portfolio/website

Get those portfolio links updated right away. Your page is absolutely meaningless if you can't show off your work.

Kit Bashing, remove. Book, remove. Instead you should render out a few more beauty shots of your cars/anything else that's good, maybe a quick animation too.

If you REALLY want to WOW an employer, start making high quality tutorials on your website of some decently advanced stuff...this shows that you are good enough in the industry to teach others, and your portfolio will get 100x more hits.

You really need to center the entire website around your work, and what you're capable of. You're trying to sell yourself without words.

I need to update mine too at some point, but it's been really successful at bringing in clients so far. Just try and make it as impressive as possible. Not a bad start though Lasse. Your skills (definitely in terms of vehicular modeling) have gotten a lot better over the last year, and is obviously your strong point, so you should probably try and make that your selling point when designing your page.

Shameless self promotion.
www.wix.com/darkshark9/portfolio

Oh yeah, and make some god damn business cards. You have no idea how well they work once you start making contacts. Haha.
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Old 10-7-2011, 02:40 AM   #6
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Default Re: Starting a portfolio/website

Updated!

EDIT: Wix =D I struggled with it, was too easy for me to get the template "messy"- I really like wordpress even if I can't "move" boxes freely, I still have 2-20 templates which really suits all my needs, nothing I've wanted to do I haven't been able to get just like I wanted it yet, besides, I can upgrade to fully customizable layouts cheap too which the wordpress team has seen over themselves.
Thanks for the encouraging supply DS!

I will definitely upload a tutorial on the site, I have one on FN-9 which is like 15 pages long on post processing but it's old and was made because the school wanted me to like a year ago. I'll refresh it with some actual skill and result =p


Anyone ever fooled around with Unity3D? Looks really cool, and it's pretty easy. I'm going to make some stuff for it simply to add "gaming experience" to my showreel haha.

Thanks for great CC guys, really appreciate it. I'll make the site more delicious as I get more stuff for it worthy of uploading.
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Old 10-7-2011, 11:45 AM   #7
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Default Re: Starting a portfolio/website

Made more changes, new banner, more in the small "about" section and making parents for my labels.

Oh well
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Old 10-7-2011, 01:09 PM   #8
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Default Re: Starting a portfolio/website

I would call your home tab "blog", not "home". The background you're using right now reminds me of CG from 20 years ago lol.
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Old 10-7-2011, 01:27 PM   #9
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Default Re: Starting a portfolio/website

Yeah that's a horribly tacky carbon fibre background. Try something a little more refined.
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