Response to “Good Designers Copy, Great Designers Steal”
After struggling for a good while over how I would create an effective portfolio site I decided to take a break and read the article by Cameron Moll. This article was just what I needed. I have been trying to come up with something that is original and unique and was having a really tough time. Then the article made me realize that I definately fall into the category of “beginning designers” and that it is okay to use other more experienced designers concepts. Especially since just six months ago I didnt even know what html or css were. This article makes it clear that even professional web designers need inspiration and if a site is effective, we should all share. I agree that we shouldnt just completely rip off an exact layout, but rather take the effective concept and apply it to fit your site’s needs.
My design process
When designing my design comprehensives I began by simply looking at many portfolio sites of graphic designers. I noticed how they displayed their work and took things that I liked and made note of them. I then just thought of what I want my portfolio site to do and the feel I want to give to viewers. I decided that viewers of my site are possible employers so I wanted to make the site simple in order to emphasize my graphic design work rather tnan the web design.
Collaboration with the class has made a difference in my design because I have taken suggestions about sites to reference and different ways to arrange things from other students.
site research
here are a few sites that I think do a good job of presenting portfolios:
www.booncreative.com
I like this site because it is simple and easy to navigate. I have already talked about it a little in previous posts.
www.concepthue.com
I like this site as well for similar reasons. It is simple and strait forward and the web design is separate from the design of the pieces being presented. I dont like the fact that the pictures are seperate links however. I think it would be more effective to have the pieces display within the site.
www.kennethwalton.org
The thing that i like about this portfolio is the use of thumbnails that are interesting crops from the pieces they represent. It is like a taste of what you are going to see before you see it. I also like the way he uses his resume in the site.
www.nkdsn.com/portfolio.htm
This is another site that uses interesting crops from images as the thumbnails. I guess i like this idea.
www.markwheeler.net/portfolio.php
This one is just a different idea just for comparison. I do like the layout.
The Problem to address in my portfolio website
The problem that I am dealing with in creating an online portfolio is how to effectively display my digital design work along with my fine art work. The two are very different mediums and creating a site that can compliment both (without taking away from the pieces featured) is proving somewhat of a difficult task.
Theoretically, the viewer of the site is a potential employer so I would like them to somehow see that my background in fine art is a compliment to the design work that I am now doing here at the art institute.
Ideas for final portfolio website
I found a few designs that I like online but the one that I think I like best is www.booncreative.com. I like this site because it is a simple design that doesn’t take away from the featured pieces. I think this site is easily navigated and contains short and to-the-point descriptions of each piece without too much extra verbiage. If I use booncreative.com as an influence for my portfolio site I would use similar simple navigation features and the overall minimalistic feel so that the viewer doesnt get bogged down by the site design and can more effectively view the works contained within. I have built a previous portfolio site that was influenced by this site but after learning more css technique I think i can build a more efficient site.
Comments on Bowman’s “A Design Process Revealed”
I thought this article was interesting because it almost defines a recipe for design. I know that not all designers use the same creative process but it is interesting to see his method in arriving at a finished product. While reading the article I began to think of a marketing class that I took because in a sense, both designing a website and marketing a product focus on a common goal; being attractive to people. This may seem somewhat of a stretch but everything from research and development to competitive analysis all the way down to the final composition are alot like developing a marketing plan to sell a product.
While reading this article, I noticed that my personal creative process is not too much different from Bowman’s or anyone else who studies design. I completely agree when he talked about how anyone can add alot of “Smoke and Mirrors”, but actually going through a process and developing the idea is what really makes a good design.
Hello
My name is Payton Davis and I am a graphic design major. From knowledge gained in this course I would like to create an online portfolio that features my work, and gives the person viewing the site a sense of my style just from the site design alone. In dealing with creating this portfolio I want to learn about how to place things in the page without as much guesswork and what to do to make my site be consistent in all the different browsers. I also want to learn the inheritance attributes as this is something that I have struggled with in the past. Basically I want to gain a familiarity with CSS rather than just guessing at what i am inputting.
