My New Portfolio Website! Feedback please

Please critique my new website. I’m still working on it, so tell me what things I need to pay attention to.

What about the sketches and renderings?

http://www.vanhooreweder.net/

You have some great work on there - the projects under the ‘schools’ section have some really nice sketchwork and I love your style - slightly retro but very cool.

I’m not sure about the layout of the site - it is a little confusing. I like the idea of a blog about what you are up to on the home page but it would be great if you could show some of your work on that page - draw people in a bit (maybe some of those nice sketches…). Also, your portfolio should be a key feature - not hidden under the ‘school’ title and I would definitely put it before the ‘inspiration’ section. Perhaps your sketchbook could be incorporated into a ‘portfolio’ section too?

It would also be nice to have a bit more detail about you in the ‘about me’ section too.

But… the work inside is great :wink:

Thanks for your reply, you make a good point. I adjusted the layout of the homepage now and I have placed my portfolio as most important page. I’m just still not happy with the pictures on Sketch Book page. I would like to make them more dynamic, but it’s like i’m stuck. Can someone give me some advice on drawing and rendering cars?

Wow. Massive improvement. The layout is much clearer now.


:smiley:

I personally would not worry about the cars, it is not something you should be putting in your portoflio. Maybe under a concept section, but that is only if they are your designs and not just illustrations of existing models.

Loose the egg box thing, it looks to me like you have just drawn an egg box, if you have designed it make it more obvious.

For your sketches i would present them better, loose the different colour backgrounds. Do this by using the levels within photoshop.

Your kitchen re design project is again just a sketch. Is that the final design? What is it? More process needs to be shown.

In general it is just a bit random. Why have you done those projects? What makes them necessary? That is what you need to convey rather than just random sketches of cars and egg boxes.

Think as your portfolio as a method of telling someone who you are, its a window into how you operate as a designer. The biggest piece of advice i was given when asking around consultancies was:

“We value ideas the most here at XXXXXXX.” " Yes it needs to be supplimented by good skills, espeically skething, but it is your ideas and thinking that will sell".

So keep at it m8, have a butchers at some of the online portfolio’s around here there are stacks of them and see how they do it.

Wohoow, now that what I call feedback, thank you. I will delete the egg box thing. The kitchen instrument is a project I just started so more will follow. I will also try to put some more info about the different projects in my portfolio.

And again, thanks for your feedback, this is what’s really helping me.