Forums

The forums ran from 2008-2020 and are now closed and viewable here as an archive.

Home › Forums › Design › Critique my portfolio site please?

  • This topic is empty.
Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 44 total)
1 2 3
  • Author
    Posts
  • August 8, 2013 at 5:19 pm #146187
    alexemorris
    Participant

    Would love an actual designers opinion on my site. I’ve just got it finished, its not 100% bug free yet (virtually impossible to achieve but I’d like to get as close as possible!)

    http://www.alexemorris.com

    Its all responsive, and written pretty much entirely by me except for the jQuery library its self.

    I hope you like it, please be as critical as possible. The prices are definitely not final, just testing out the tool which I developed!

    August 8, 2013 at 7:31 pm #146192
    Historical Forums User
    Participant

    First of all, I like the overall look and feel, although the text size is a bit small. In the portfolio page, I noticed that you used the phrase “time frame” for one project, and “timescale” for another. I know every project is different, but a consistent format would be nice. Also, the contact form should be it’s own page if you put it in the main navigation like that. Maybe try putting it in the footer if you like it on every page.

    This is just my personal opinion, so take it with a grain of salt. Hope I could help!

    August 9, 2013 at 1:30 am #146211
    alexemorris
    Participant

    Thanks guys,

    Looks like I will have to sort out the font size/weight issue. I’m using a retina display and it looks good for me, however I can see why it might be as readable without one!

    I am planning on separate contact form page for users without javascript enabled, but the problem with it is there is just not enough content to justify having its own page. I can’t even fill out the white space with a map or something because I don’t have an office. Some tweaks need to go into the control on the nav bar because at the minute once its up its up.

    Good point about timescale/time frame with sort that out.

    Alex

    August 9, 2013 at 3:27 am #146223
    Argeaux
    Participant

    Never put your own site in your portfolio ;)

    August 9, 2013 at 3:15 pm #146302
    alexemorris
    Participant

    Thanks, I’ll get to work on some of those points.

    The login is for the CMS for my clients.

    I think the font is something which keeps getting mentioned. Like I said previously, looks fine on here but its a retina display. I’ll use @media to target a weight of 300 for non pixel doubled displays.. should be better.

    The gallery page is to show my photography and it is something I’m looking to include as a service but I don’t have any work related examples yet. All my own personal stuff.

    Good point with the order & cursor:pointer; is something which I should have done anyway. Thanks for pointing it out.

    I’ll speed up the animations on my portfolio now.

    August 9, 2013 at 3:34 pm #146304
    alexemorris
    Participant

    its getting there now.

    August 9, 2013 at 3:59 pm #146306
    alexemorris
    Participant

    Ok, so I’m part way through solving the font issue. Fixing my grandmas laptop and its in front of me (and its old, the horror of opening my site in i.e. 6 purely out of interest is for an entirely different thread)

    I’ve changed the default font for PC to Arial as this seems to be much more optimised compared to Museo Sans which was previously being pulled form TypeKit. On Mac I’ve opted for Helvetica Neue, however if a retina display is being used then Museo Sans.

    Much more readable don’t you think?

    August 9, 2013 at 6:08 pm #146318
    chrisburton
    Participant

    Arial? Neue Helvetica? Please don’t.

    Much more readable don’t you think?

    As Hrant Papazian responded:

    Than Morse Code? Totally dude.

    August 10, 2013 at 2:54 am #146329
    alexemorris
    Participant

    Are you having a laugh? There is nothing wrong with Arial and certainly nothing wrong with Helvetica Neue. If its more readable and its not comic sans then thats all that matters for now.

    I’m going to have to find a font that performs well on a variety of different displays.

    August 10, 2013 at 8:42 am #146344
    Xqisit
    Participant

    There is nothing “wrong” with Arial and Helvetica Neue. They are just common fonts, and some designers look down on them for being “overused”. Really though, the average consumer wont care at all. Content is king, and those fonts look good. So it doesn’t matter. It’s just designers who get nitpicky over them.

    Same with comic sans really. The font isn’t so “bad”, it was just used a lot, and used inappropriately. (gravestones, etc.)

    August 10, 2013 at 10:51 am #146347
    chrisburton
    Participant

    If you consider readability to not be important, sure. Nothing is “wrong”. By the way, I specialize in typography.

    August 10, 2013 at 10:56 am #146348
    cwork
    Participant

    what’s wrong with Arial? I love it, and find it very easy to read. I like larger fonts, myself, at 16px.

    August 10, 2013 at 10:57 am #146349
    alexemorris
    Participant

    Exactly what I thought thanks Xqisit, the rendering for Arial and Helvetica on non High DPI displays is much better than my previous choice.

    How you can complain that Arial is not ‘readable’ I don’t know. How do you get by in day to day life?

    August 11, 2013 at 11:19 am #146400
    chrisburton
    Participant

    Are you having a laugh?

    Not at all. I’m trying to educate you.

    and certainly nothing wrong with Helvetica Neue.

    But there is.

    If its more readable and its not comic sans then thats all that matters for now.

    Yeah but unfortunately that just makes no sense whatsoever.

    As Erik Spiekermann stated:

    “Most people who use Helvetica, use it because it’s ubiquitous. It’s like going to McDonald’s instead of thinking about food. Because it’s there, it’s on every street corner, so let’s eat crap because it’s on the corner.”

    And to clarify the horrible readability and legibility: http://spiekermann.com/en/helvetica-sucks

    There are countless articles about Helvetica on screen and its poor readability. Remember that dyslexic and people with poor vision use the internet. Benton Sans is a great alternative.

    I think we’re past the era of using “websafe fonts”. Even though I have a love for Georgia, I know there are more diverse alternatives.

    August 11, 2013 at 4:15 pm #146448
    cwork
    Participant

    Helvetica is unreadable at 12px, thanks for the link @chrisburton. I kind of find all fonts hard to read at small sizes, even the comments on that site, though.

    I have seen chris drop some gems on here so when he says something I pay attention lol. Still waiting for your blog though.

    Btw is anyone having trouble staying logged in here? I feel lucky to be able to post this message right now.

  • Author
    Posts
Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 44 total)
1 2 3
  • The forum ‘Design’ is closed to new topics and replies.