Website question

Many people have portfolio websites, and of course I am thinking of building one too.

First of all, I have no knowledge with regards to flash or cool web making skills. All I know is Microsoft Front page.

Secondly, which is what I am most concerned about, is how much should I put up? If I put up the entire portfolio, will that be to my advantage or disadvantage?( such as interview opportunity and so on). What if I just put a “teaser” there? Won’t that be just like another coroflot? Will that be worth the time?

Good question, man.

I think as a student, it is your objective to be called in for interviews right? So you don’t want to give it all away. The goal should be to pique intrest enough for the viewer to say “OK. I’ve seen enough to fly this guy out here and see what else he has to say”.

I do think you might want to show more projects than a coroflot folio will alow, but it might not be neccessary.

Ditto on the good question, I don’t think a lot of people really know what those in hiring positions want to see…

I would say that a little bit of everything is always a good way to go. Don’t just show Alias stuff, don’t just show sketches, don’t just…well, you get it…

Mainly, don’t be one-dimensional.

I think portfolio websites, by design, have to be refined over time, with feedback from those people who view it. They are your best source of criticism and critique.

I threw a portfolio site together kind of quickly and there are some things I’d like to change, but for me, the most important thing was getting my work online, and easily accessible. I think it’s a lot more effective than worrying about the size of your email attachments.

I didn’t put any type of descriptions on any of the work, thinking that might lead to more questions from the sites visitors. It worked, but a lot of the feedback I’ve gotten has included requests for short descriptions on a per project basis…

I think another things people get carried away with is a kick-ass site, but they don’t do a good job of showing off the work they’ve done. Don’t let the design of your site take away from the work contained within it…

Good luck.

Don’t get all caught up in using flash. I didn’t use flash on my site (except for the sound.) You are not trying to show off your flash skills so why make someone wait for the site to load.

I have received many compliments from potential employers (informational interviews) about my site. Specifically how fast it loads, easy to navigate and not loaded down with flash.

You want people to focus on your work not your web design. I have a very simple site. You might not like the aesthetics but take a look. You will find you can get through the entire site quickly without getting lost.

(Yeah I know I have to remove my image from most of the pages) :wink:

http://www.lauren3g.com

I think I know what you guys mean. Something a little more than coroflot but just enough to attract attention.

I made one a year back, haven’t updated since. The biggest problem I had was how to set my pages in the center of the screen no matter what resolution the person is viewing with. I still don’t know how to do it.

The only software I have at my disposal is Front Page 2000. It’s easy, and uses simple html. Any idea?

BTW here’s the link: www.jyh.4t.com
I have showed it here before and I know I should at least pay to get the ads off. It was just a practice.

You mind checking our my coroflot pages as well?
www.coroflot.com/juanyh

My actual portfolio has similar feel. I want to make sure that if I am not there to explain my work, I still want people to understand the process and details I went through, thus I end up including many things. My department head thinks it’s too busy. Most other people are positive about the layout.
I think the first thing I am trying to sell with my portfolio is my skills. Then I will “impress” them with the way I think through interviews.

RE: web page centring,

I also wanted to do this and achieved it by creating a table witch is aligned horizontally central to the screen, by adding align=“center” in the code, giving it a set width, say 640px and a height of 100%. You then create a table within this first table and set its vertical alignment to centre and give it a predefined height of 480px and a width of 100%.

This way when the user expands there window the first table will always be in the middle horizontally and the second table will be in the centre vertically and horizontally. You then create you site within the 2nd table and walla a site which is 640x480 and always in the centre of the screen

You can take a look at the code on my site:

PS: cool sketches molested_cow,

Molested Cow you should change your name to mad genius. Your sketches are absolutely jaw dropping incredible. I wish I could sketch and render as good as you. How long do your sketches take. I sketched this couch over five layers of vellum and marker colored them and it took me like 3 hours maybe 4. Is that slow? Do I need to try and get it done faster?

I agree with you, now i am going to improve my web site showcase as you instruct. Thanks for suggestions.

Guessing SPAM ^^^^ but funny to see a blast from the past!

At first, I was trying to understand what was this convo about, then i read the year lol

If you don’t have much web dev experience I would suggest biting the bullet and paying for a service like squarespace. See it as a investment in your career. It will 95% of the time look better than what you can code on your own especially for someone just starting out in web dev. If your really dead set on learning to code your own website develop it on the side after you’ve already set up a website through a web design platform.

I checked out the link you provided above and while I appreciate the time you put into coding it on your own, it’s distracting from your awesome work. Employers aren’t hiring you because you can code a kick ass website they are hiring you for your ID design skills… Your website should emphasize your awesome work not your web dev skills.

Well not to say an industrial designer should be able to comprehensively master web design, but it is definitely a plus if you can handle basic HTML + CSS and plugin scripts. It shows an interest in digital media and in many studios the designers manage the company website as well.

If you are setting up your website right now, it is a good tip to get a more custom extension besides .com, .eu or .net.
How about .design, .pro, .tech, .space, .app, .art, .box, .ink, .science, .top - these are available now.