portfolio-website review?

Hi guys!

People who post their portfolios here always get such great feedback I couldn’t help but join their ranks!

So, please take a peek and comment…

I’m targeting not only design firms, but companies of all sizes who may not be highly ID-aware. I tried to stay general-purpose, but I’m a bit surprised to find the few entry-level positions want specialties like graphic design.

Anyway, check it out, http://www.stefandickerson.com and see if anything’s a bit stinky.

Yes, it’s in Flash… I’ll spare you the long story. For the record, I agree with the current thread: Flash may be on the ropes soon. I also agree flash sites tend to be overdone. I aimed for a simple and clean design.

Thanks very much in advance,
Stefan

One of the better flash sites… still it took ages to load and I’m not on too shoddy a connection!

Your introduction is really nice. I like the fact that it is positive and honest, it doesn’t build you up to be more than you are but it certainly piqued my interest. That said, personally I felt that you went into a bit too much detail on the background page! Better just your CV here perhaps?

In the portfolio I thought that the drill project was the best of the lot as you showed some well thought out and documented process work here. Some of the other projects lacked the same depth though, and I wanted to see more early concepts and exploration of form / imaginative ideas that might have come out in the early sketch work. I would also have like to have been able to have clicked on the images on the portfolio page of your website to view them on the site rather than just linking to issuu.

Thanks Firenzee…

I think with some code housekeeping I can cut the flash file down to about 1 MB (currently 1.8 MB). Hopefully that brings things down to a palatable level.

Yeah, I’ve been a little uncertain about the background section, thanks for going there… maybe something fresher and tighter, like an informal point-form CV.

I guess now I have these questions:

Does the portfolio work as a teaser? My rationale was to strike a balance. Have some depth, but some width as well… do 1 or 2 projects at depth to show I can, and include a few others to less depth, and keep it around a 5-minute read. (save something for the interview). Maybe it’s not positioned as a teaser?

What does everyone else think, does linking a portfolio elsewhere leave a bad impression? This was my “learning flash” site, so it was a lot of time spent not pounding the pavement. It seemed better to get on with it and host the pdf externally. I’ll reconsider this approach if it’s a big turn-off.

Really appreciate the feedback… it’s been super thought-provoking so far!

Stefan
www.stefandickerson.com