PODS Digital Portfolio

Pros: 1- The projects are expressed in a clean and direct way- no flash to divert attention. 2- The photographic grey background works well with each project color palette and offers continuity to the site. 3-Easy to navigate. Cons: 1-The main page image changes and some images obscure the wording for selecting categories. 2- The project descriptions are inserted with white background and jump off the page. 3- I feel like there might be a more emotive font that is more in line with each project's feel.

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.

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

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.

Pros: 1-Individual pieces work well together to make a strong whole 2- Easy to navigate 3- Images large enough to see Cons: 1- Pieces are so similar that it hierarchy is nebulous 2- Sub organization would improve your discovery of pieces 3- Page can be busy with the highlighted piece.

Pros: 1-Easy to navigate 2- Screen clean/uncluttered 3- Pages well composed Cons: 1- Navigation tools on images are distracting 2- Back and forth between small and readable view is awkward 3- Organizational categories would be helpful

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.

Pros: - Looks clean and professional -easy to navigate and can get to anywhere from any place - good link buttons and features (i.e. highlighting the little squares shows a thumbnail of its link) Cons: - Could use more of the screen

I like - easy to navigate - only one page of text - email is a hyperlink I don't like - the distracting, too bright font - no sort of organization or focus within the work - tacky overall feel

This is an adobe website that helps you create color palettes. Choose from 100s of user created palettes or create your own. You can even upload photos and create a palette from the colors in that photo.

Likes: 1. Because the site takes a while to load, the "Loading..." image you see is an illustrated heart beating, and it's really interesting to look at while you wait. 2. Content is all listed on left--easy navigation 3. Color scheme is very attractive, and still works well with content. Dislikes: 1. Can't scroll using trackpad--you have to use the side bar 2. Content still takes a long time to load, even after waiting for the initial homepage to load as well. 3. It's hard to distinguish between the heads and subheads on the left--maybe bolding the heads would make them pop a little better?

likes: -simple navigation -not to much to click at -organized - very interesting buttons -personalized art everywhere dislikes: -no animation -very unattractive -good layout but lacks the panaz - more color - splash page may help

Glen's portfolio is fun and personal. What a fantastic way to meet future clients and letting them meet you. What I liked best about this portfolio: 1. I immediately love the homepage image and how you interact with it, what a refreshingly new idea that I haven't seen before. 2. When you click on the image you go inside the book bag or you zoom in onto the notebook paper to read the resume. Its fun and inviting. 3. I love that you get a feeling for who this guy is and what he is like. Its personal and friendly. The guy is waving at you, saying hello. 4. I like how everything is black and white until you hover your curser over an area on the drawing like the tie. It all of a sudden gives you a punch of color and a clear definition of what file you might be opening. 5. When you have opened one of the files like his book bag-the photo icons are clean cut and clear, plus the return to homepage is prominent and easy to spot in the upper right hand corner. Easy navigational tools. What could be improved in this portfolio: 1. He could have used some text on his homepage. Like his name and the profession he wants to get into. 2. He could have included a footer. More navigation choices. 3. He could have added different ways the pages morph into one another 4. His Return to Home button is a little too well designed, it is kinda masked, to look like a skeleton to match his portfolio design. It could be even more clearer. 5. In the about me page-he could have given us his name. Overall: This portfolio is flat out Amazing! Making a homepage can be a fun and can be used in an artistic way of introducing your self to your profession. Again it was hard to come up with things Glen could change about his portfolio, because its really good: great use of color to highlight his work and having fun with portfolio.

Likes - I love the colors and look and feel of the home page. Its different and feels very cohesive and interesting. - I like the way she incorporates images and words into her links, as opposed to just have a boring font link. - I like how she gives information on the right hand side about each of her designs. I think it gives a good look into all the work she puts into her designs. Dislikes - I think she could simplify her "about promise" section. I feel like condensing this section would make more people inclined to read it, because right now its a bit long. - I don't like how she has a seperate section for "other work". I think all her work should all be in the same section, because its hard to distinguish the two when you click on each one. They look the same. - I don't like how her contact and blog section are way on the right side of the page, because I think that these are one of the first things a person visiting the site looks for.

Likes - Love the simplicity of the homepage, and the slideshow of pictures - I like how he organizes his wedding galleries by using the couples names, instead of just mashing all his wedding photography together under one gallery. - I love the navigation through the gallery pictures themselves, and how you can have them in a contact sheet, or a slide show, or a mini slideshow. Dislikes - I hate when websites have unnecessary sounds, and I think the clicky sound that occurs when the mouse goes over each link is irritating. - I think the way he labels his links and the organization is confusing and unclear. He gives appropriate titles to his gallery sections, but then when you get to the sublinks, you sometimes don't get a clear understanding of what the gallery you are clicking on is going to be of. - I think the link titled "hello and good day" is pointless and I don't really understand why it is there.

Likes- Zach's layout is really easy to understand. Simple Main Menu on top of the page lets you look at his Architectural work, blog, and contact info. Select one Menu item and a menu bar on the side allows you to pick which project you want to see. He uses navigation devices in 3 different spots on this page, but does it in a way that is really easy to understand. I would say intuitive. Dislikes- The only problem with the page is that I have to scroll down to see all the information. I didn't realize this at first and later found there were written descriptions at the bottom of the page. I also had to scroll down a bit to see all of the image that was being displayed. That gets old after a while, and I think I can take no more of this website. Sorry Josh. You came really close, but I'm giving you a B+. With a little work this site could be much easier to read.

Likes- This is a really great portfolio, even though his sketches of people look like Sasquatch. The menu bar and navigation are two of my favorite pieces to this site. The menu bar is to the left and always open. Creative, and simple icons exist for each project and when you place the cursor over the icons a short written explanation pops up. The menu bar is also very well organized, with all the important sections existing right there. Once you click on a project there is a series of image icons to click on, and a written explanation at the bottom of each image. Dislikes- The only part I didn't like was the resume portion. When I clicked on the icon it took me to a download screen. I don't want to download the resume yet, I want to see it first. Under his contact icon the resume exists, so he just made up for that one mistake. Nice work Josh. You might get a call back. A

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.

Likes: 1. Pages showing art use the artwork as their background, which is attractive 2. Description of art is clear and out in the open--not hard to find, and readable 3. There are two thumbnail options to click on: to view the full piece of art, and to view a zoomed-in photo (nice to be able to see detail) Dislikes: 1. Trajan font is overused, and the rest of the fonts don't work very well together... 2. The links in the "artists" section don't lead anywhere... 3. Navigation between artwork pages is confusing--doesn't give much direction.

Likes: 1. The "box" theme correlates with the name of the org. and is a nice visual showcasing element for photos. 2. Icons at the top of the page take you down to the specific client section you clicked on, since it's a very long page to scroll 3. "Back to top" option is helpful, since the page is very long. Dislikes: 1. The descriptions of each client/project take a while to load (at top of page), so it's hard to understand what's going on until you've scrolled down and realized the top is an index, by which time the descriptions have loaded..... 2. There is no way to see larger images--only the thumbnails that appear in the box theme. 3. I think there needs to be more information (like an About section) about the company, as well as more information about the clients/projects being shown.