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My burning question is how do I make my online architectural portfolio stand out from other portfolios? I found a blog at www.thinkvitamin.com by author Mike Kus that had some great ideas. One of his ideas was to keep it simple and not be afraid of having blank space. I think this is really good input because having a clean and unfettered layout is attractive to potential employers. How the items are arranged on the site and where the blank areas are can also showcase design layout skills. Another one of his ideas is to have a good set palette of colors. Having a specific palette that is consistent throughout the portfolio helps to give the site a coherent sense of identity and character. Also, the color palettes in the example portfolios he gives compliment and contrast with each other very effectively. I plan on doing further research on effective and attention grabbing color combinations as this seems important. Other important aspects that he can make a portfolio stand out if done effectively are imagery and typography, bucking current web trends, and attention to detail. His examples of portfolios are not all architectural but their merits are definitely applicable and are worth taking a look at.

In this portfolio it is mostly visual with very few words. This style of portfolio allows his work to do all of the talking. To me it was very powerful and bold. What I liked best about this portfolio: 1.It is quick and easy to navigate 2. The photos are captivating and large so you know what you are looking at 3. The landing page is clean, precise and different then others I've seen (it looks professional). 4. When you glide over the elongated photos of the works he has been involved in, large white titles show up to tell you right away what file you are about to open. Example: photo of the production Cinderella, hover your curser over the image and click! Now you have several more photos to look at, all on the production of Cinderella 5. The main menu is large and bold, always visible. 6. There is a small text that shows up "move your mouse over me" encouraging the host to explore and help navigate the site. 7. I like that there are current projects he is working on, he includes awards he has won and he has both a contact page and a resume (that you can download) My suggestions of changes this portfolio could have are: 1. It could use more text, all I see is the work, but where are his ideas and contributions (his experiences in this field?) 2. Does he draw his designs or make models, how does he work? 3. I did not see an about page-what is he like? 4. There is nothing too personal about him. For example: no picture. 5. Resume is all one size and same color of text, nothing jumps out at you. 6. His name and title could be larger (on each page). Because as you scroll down you loose his name and then you ask your self who's work am I looking at again, because this is good and I want him to work for me! (although all you have to do is scroll up or click on the back button to return to menu... there his name is prominently displayed again) Overall: It was very hard to find anything that this portfolio needs to change because I really like what James has done with

Works: 1. Includes a variety of examples, illustrations, web design, photography. 2. Clean simple, with bold colors for tabs to draw viewers eyes, very large texts. 3. Large images on every page. Does not work: 1.Too much text. 2. Also sells his own art work??? but thats kind of cool, but draws less focus on main point? 3. Not much about info/resume.

Likes- Large format images on main page with slide show. Pop down bars when you scroll over menu items. Once again, simple layout. Dislikes: The slide show runs a little too fast for my liking. Text could be better as well. Different san serif font and uppercase.

Likes: Consistent Background Easy Navigation Descriptions are personal and include customer feedback Dislikes: Under "Retouching & Photoshop" the before & after isn't immediately apparent. I thought the before was the after, and wasn't impressed with their retouching skills! Bottom navigation has featured projects, but I couldn't tell that right away The "services" tab lists services without example images, separately from the "retouching & photoshop" service WITH images, which gave me the impression that their only service was photoshop & retouching.

Likes: White background highlights work. Main page features a rolling slideshow of work, which is intriguing when you first enter the site. Pop up bars indicate the name of the project, but before these appear you get a chance to see the image by itself. A loading bar appears at the bottom indicating when the next image will appear. Dislikes: Not many. It could be a little easier to choose between projects, and the pixel dimension could warrant being larger with the size of monitors these days.

Likes: Good range of work showcased on the main page with the ability to choose between a variety of projects. Quality work, slightly unconventional layout. Dislikes: The black background on the text doesn't look good. Having all the images for each project load at once could be slow on some computers, although it is nice to be able to scroll through them all at once. It could be more designed. The background is rather generic.

Likes: Compelling main page, text works well with colors. Easy navigation between galleries. Simple bar at bottom. Dislikes: The images are a little small once you enter the portfolio, and there are too many pages to go through to get there. Grey background distracts from images (should be black or white)

Likes: Elegant Layout, easy to understand. No pages to worry about flipping through, everything is there. The black background works well with the content of the images, and the text. You can tell it was done by a designer. Dislikes: Scrolling down is a little old fashioned, and could lead some people to overlook what's on the bottom of the page. Format wouldn't work so well with separate projects.

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.

User-controlled site that showcases interesting digital portfolios. Like this diigo group, but on a larger scale. Worth checking out.

DISLIKES... - Quick Icons; The icons used to navigate through his work, move really quickly & pop up really fast. - Small font: in combination with some of the light colors & mix with white, the titles were hard to read cause the fonts were so small - Hidden Categories: each time i refreshed the page, the menu icons were just randomly "dropped" onto the page to where sometimes some menu icons were hidden. - Small Viewbox: It is nice to have a formatted size to view his work, however, for some I felt it was too small. There were so much content for some of his work, that shrinking it down to that formatted size didn't do justice to what his work look liked LIKES... - Simplicity: his home page looks clean to where the main focus is the menu icons that really encourages you to interact with his website - Menu Icons: they are really unique & interactive - No Need Back: through the integration of his menu icons, there is never really a need to press the back button. - Interaction: At the very least, every person that comes to his portfolio page would be interested because of the interaction that is required to navigate through his page. It is very playful yet simple