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My question: what are some ways to get my digital portfolio seen by potential clients? This article is more tailored to designers, but it's still relevant for all media types. Get your art featured somewhere. Add a blog to your domain. Do art/design for a well-known name. Give stuff away (info/how-to, links, techniques, templates, etc). Get interviewed. Join a network (behance, flickr, etc). Write an article/tutorial/blogpost for another website/publication. Pay-per-click advertising.

In this article, I'll be analyzing the navigation elements of a particular category of websites, i.e. portfolios. Why portfolios, you ask? Because they represent an interesting blend of creativity and development techniques. As they offer an intriguing user interface and interaction, this often borderlines with what is ultimately defined as an enjoyable user experience. Should aesthetics, originality and creativity come at the expense of usability? Can they reside on the same website in harmony?

In this article, we will focus on a variety of techniques and best practices to improve the usability of horizontal navigation bars, and we will note less effective styles. We'll also look at several trends that developers can choose from when working on the navigation design for their next project.

Burning Question: What are some needed components to create a good portfolio? Today with so much new technology, more digital portfolios are being created and used. Portfolios help show the education, skill and knowledge a person may have in a certain area. Digital portfolios should be easily accessible, organized, and most important show your best work. Remember you are trying to impress, and show you master certain techniques and skills. A good thing about digital portfolios is that their easier to update and you can take or send them about anywhere. According the the attached article while in the process of creating a portfolio, one should consider our goals, objective, of whom we are trying to impress and what we are trying to obtain and tell our observers. Overall students should present their best, by presenting all there knowledge in the best way that they can.

Burning Question: What are some needed components to create a good portfolio? Today with so much new technology, more digital portfolios are being created and used. Portfolios help show the education, skill and knowledge a person may have in a certain area. Digital portfolios should be easily accessible, organized, and most important show your best work. Remember you are trying to impress, and show you master certain techniques and skills. A good thing about digital portfolios is that their easier to update and you can take or send them about anywhere. According the the attached article while in the process of creating a portfolio, one should consider our goals, objective, of whom we are trying to impress and what we are trying to obtain and tell our observers. Overall students should present their best, by presenting all there knowledge in the best way that they can

Likes: -the nice logo-looking image of his name "CNatt" -draft drawings for each project -he has "press" on menu Dislikes: -contact information does not necessary need to be lighter color -can not find his skills like adobe photoshop etc -should be able to see his articles with large image in press menu, not just thumbnails

At first glance this portfolio seems to be impressive. I think Josh is good at first impressions, but maybe tends to lose people after they start talking with him. He has a layout that is simple to read, but after you hit an icon it takes you through a labyrinth of pages and outside links. I scrolled down one page for about 2 minutes reading about his project, just to realize I was stuck scrolling all the way back to the top. One project was just an NYT article about a project he worked on at a firm, but not sure do to lack of information. Likes- This portfolio clearly shows the vast amount of experience Josh has. It includes his architecture school work, professional practice work, graphic design work, and a link to his blog. It seems that Josh is all over the place, and wants everyone to know, but maybe he could do better if he concentrated more on a few things instead of drowning us in his all star achievements. I'm going to give Josh a B-, with plenty of room for improvement.

three great things:simple menu bars great menu perspective LARGE full-page images inform versus text.  three poor things:only one main image (scrolling between projects could be better) no contextlittle technical content or facts

Question: How do I choose an online portfolio layout? What do different layouts express about the designer? This website shows a number of Wordpress themes, and outlines the type of design work they are made for and the kind of feeling they present. Even if you didn't want to use Wordpress, I thought it would be useful to have examples of portfolios with different intentions. There are key words in the layout descriptions, like "elegant" or "artsy" that might tie in with the reading, which doesn't really say what these might look like. A few characteristics stood out to me. "Elegant" portfolio theme tended to have a simple, clean layout with understated backgrounds in neutral colors. The work showed well, but was often uninteresting because there was little wow factor. "Artsy" portfolio themes tended to be more colorful or include a decorative graphic elements, but the work was sometimes overwhelmed by the backgrounds. Work-focused themes tended to have dark backgrounds with a dimensionality to them, which makes the work almost "hung" in space. Text seemed a little awkward in these theme however, since they also "hung" above the background (perhaps if the image and text were in the same window above the background?). Photography had a layout reminding me of a magazine article, exciting and narrative, but more confusing if the information is complex. Some general comments while looking at sites: Some of the architectural portfolios tended toward neutral colors and crisp fonts, however, they often left little impression of who the designer IS, and what their approach is. Some of the graphic design portfolios were highly graphic and visually bold, but were a little "loud" and in the interest of being trendy or current, again left me wondering who the designer IS.

Some great, quick tips on how to make your portfolio look fabulous.