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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 a world of too many options and too little time, our obvious choice is to just ignore the ordinary stuff. Marketing guru Seth Godin spells out why, when it comes to getting our attention, bad or bizarre ideas are more successful than boring ones.

I like the opening page with music. I normally would not say this, but I like the music and the images go along to the change in notes. The work isn't really good, but its a nice try on polishing a dud. I like the layout. Its clear and the gray on black makes the images stand out better. There seems to be too many images that really don't help display this persons work. Some of the images don't seem to have any relevance to the project being shown. Why show random pictures of urban decay? I enjoy the contrast between the former built and the nature that will eventually engulf it, but it distracts from the idea of designing and building anew.  I like the the layout of the individual projects. Main image above with thumbnails along the bottom, followed by a brief description. Too many downloads. In order to see any display boards, one has to down load the files. I think there should be a hierarchy of fonts. All of the font seems to bleed into its self.

Pros: 1 Simple clean layout with easy straight forward navigation. Layout does a good job at allowing the images to stand alone/ be the focus. 2 Horizontal animation gives nice flair to site and images! Cons: 1 Too little description and not statement of intentions of philosophy.

Likes: - I like how the landing page is uniform in the colors and link pictures. It was also nice and simple. - I like how she organizes her galleries by color. I think it's an interesting way to do it and sets her apart from other websites I've seen. - I love how she uses very basic colors and fonts, because her work has such vibrant colors that it allows them to really pop and stand out. Dislikes: - It took FOREVER to load. Even though it had a progress bar, I was getting impatient. - I don't like how the photographs that represent the sections of the gallery cut up into the navigation links. I think its distracting and looks messy. - On her contact page, her contact form cuts off on the very bottom. I think maybe the whole site was having an issue with sizing.

Pros: 1-Very clean and straightforward 2- Each piece is given enough room to view without distraction 3- Easy to move back and forth Cons: 1- Minimal text is both a pro and a con as I'd like to know more about the artist and artist's concept 2- Home page with thumbnail of each project would be stronger, rather than being dropped in on a random image that may or may not stand alone as an intro piece 3- Font is fine.. I feel like another font might add a little more expression to each page