My mac design brethren,
I have something I could use some help with.
Before I begin, I want to relay some background info about myself and situation: I have been a design / site author for pretty much 80% of my full-time professional career (the other 20% has been in quality assurance and usability testing) though I create/author sites on the side when I am not employed as a designer. I am more interested in doing design these days rather than site-authoring, but do not want to downplay either skillset.
I put together a quick portfolio a while back to reference my work. You can see it here: http://portfolio.kriheli.com . While the portfolio is solid (from the feedback I've been given in the past) it doesn't really scream DESIGN, if you know what I mean. I personally believe it is very front-end developer / process heavy, and really doesn't appeal to most interactive agencies looking for seasoned web designers. Though I have decent experience in the field, if my portfolio doesn't kick, neither will my prospects. I spent a great deal of time in the past few weeks looking at designers online portfolios for inspiration and one thing I have noticed is that while they showed extraordinary design skills, the usability, web-standards thing was vastly inferior and grossly understated against the design. This is fine, I believe, for those just pimping their design skills who don't care to develop, but I try and sell myself as someone who has expertise in both.
Questions are... is this unwise? If not, what is (in your collective opinions) a good way to showcase your design (for web) skillset without downplaying the other skills which I believe are critical to my target? I know the clear answer would be to make a great looking site that also adheres to web standards, but does anyone here think (like me) that web standards really takes the edginess away from innovative, sharp design? Do I need another cup of coffee or something?
Any suggestions would be great.
I have something I could use some help with.
Before I begin, I want to relay some background info about myself and situation: I have been a design / site author for pretty much 80% of my full-time professional career (the other 20% has been in quality assurance and usability testing) though I create/author sites on the side when I am not employed as a designer. I am more interested in doing design these days rather than site-authoring, but do not want to downplay either skillset.
I put together a quick portfolio a while back to reference my work. You can see it here: http://portfolio.kriheli.com . While the portfolio is solid (from the feedback I've been given in the past) it doesn't really scream DESIGN, if you know what I mean. I personally believe it is very front-end developer / process heavy, and really doesn't appeal to most interactive agencies looking for seasoned web designers. Though I have decent experience in the field, if my portfolio doesn't kick, neither will my prospects. I spent a great deal of time in the past few weeks looking at designers online portfolios for inspiration and one thing I have noticed is that while they showed extraordinary design skills, the usability, web-standards thing was vastly inferior and grossly understated against the design. This is fine, I believe, for those just pimping their design skills who don't care to develop, but I try and sell myself as someone who has expertise in both.
Questions are... is this unwise? If not, what is (in your collective opinions) a good way to showcase your design (for web) skillset without downplaying the other skills which I believe are critical to my target? I know the clear answer would be to make a great looking site that also adheres to web standards, but does anyone here think (like me) that web standards really takes the edginess away from innovative, sharp design? Do I need another cup of coffee or something?
Any suggestions would be great.
