New Portfolio

So it Welcome on the main page.

 

When you click on the portfolio link the text says "Welcom to ..."

You should realize that not everyone has a 19"+ monitor. I have to scroll up and done a lot to see everything on my 13" MacBook, which is not something I'm willing to do and would not stay at the site very long. I'd shrink most of everything, from layout to text size.

 

Yeah, I didn't notice the bottom part of the page until I saw this post. Random is also spelt wrong.

 

Let me warn you, this is intended to be HUMOROUS, meaning no matter how you think I mean this review, don't take it personally.

Okay... If you're still designing layout and not actual content, you should use placeholder text in Latin or something, anything other than real text so the viewer won't keep being distracted by your numerous typos. That's why users here responded in force about said issue.

I visited and had to scroll down, down, down then back up to find the tiny, non-obvious black link, "Portfolio" nestled on the extreme far right and between two huge blocks of text with varied fonts -- all created via Flash. If I don't have Flash, I am forced to download the plugin otherwise I can't see a darned thing, btw. Most users will bail at that point. Period.

Once I finally figured out how to get to your menu page, which should have been the first page, I got to this page with the font size so large I didn't know they got that large. And interesting how my browser address never changed - meaning either you're using frames (I checked, you aren't) or this means the same flash .swf file is being used for, well, your entire site. By the time you finish the site your .swf will be the size of a continent or two.

Anyway, I can't navigate backwards unless I click on the link on the extreme bottom right of your page, or your masthead with your name in it. Of course I'd have to be pyschic to KNOW to click either of those to get back to the menu page because no such instructions or text appears to help me. Lucky I found them!

Even in layout tests, always include basic navigational links.

So if I had a laptop I'd not see half your site, that I do see makes me feel like I'm my great grandfather (blind) and that I pressed a "zoom" button about 12 times in order to get to that default view. Yes, it is that bad.

As to palette choice, usually less is more and I like classic gray and white and beige, but - and I'm not kidding - the ONLY color on your site right now is when I mouse over your impossible to find Portfolio link or your menu items. Combine all that with the borders thick enough to actually make me feel like I'm playing a video game from the 1980's.

The positioning of key elements is all wrong and you're missing all the essentials:

• HTML version?
• Search form on the top
• Footer with matching text links from nab menu
• No splash page please - start with your menu page, grab their attention
• Create distinct .swf files per page for faster loading, plus SEO since you'll get different links
• Shrink everything down
• Place for company motto?

And all of that has nothing to do with actual content, purely layout advice as to where elements are best placed to maximize their use and visibility.

You should read more critiques on other sites posted, you'll see some common advice that should help you progress. I'd add more advice, but honestly my hand hurts. Remember, I'm kidding with ya!!!

-jim

 

Here's a page with some general statistics about screen resolutions. Optimally though your design should have some flexibility so it won't have just one width, it'll expand or contract as the browser adjusts the size of their window (to an extent, no need to accommodate someone with a 100px wide browser). This is known as fluid design, but will take some learning to get the hang of.

 

• My first impression is that the fonts are generally too large. (by a factor of 2)
• The layout is fixed and far too large for most displays; use a liquid GUI based on a stage of 950x550@30fps (my personal default setting for full-size flash interfaces), so your site will fit comfortably on most displays.
  There's always more room for content in the width than in the depth; tall/skinny sites do not leverage large displays very effectively.
• The blank area in the text background is a bit strange, since the pages themselves do not actually fit in that area.
  I would fill it in so the entire background is covered with the decorative text.
• Your pages transition in, but do not transition out.
  Include both in and out transitions for all content.
• Do something a little more interesting with the button rollovers.
  BTW, always use Movieclips for buttons, instead of button symbols; this allows far more flexibility in this regard.
• I agree with the sentiment that the content pages should be external SWF files.
  I would set them up at 800 x 400.
• Include a preloader for all loaded content.
• Enable bitmap caching for the text background.
  Also try setting the background as opaque for that element.
  These two tweaks will preserve runtime performance once you art adding more content to the pages.

GL

 

Create a Rapidweaver site, it's fast, looks good, there's very little flash and there's really not much need to be an HTML guru. Personally I don't really like Flash sites for CVs, out of experience they take too long to load and just replicate what could have been said in HTML.

Check out some on the portfolios on BestWebGallery, most of them are simple, small and use very little flash.

Good luck.

 

Looks nicer than before but I still get this for about 30 seconds. I would look into HTML or split up the flash files so they don't all have to be loaded at once like someone suggested.

 

The title is spelt wrong too, it says "AB Desing Portfolio" on all pages

 

one request, add a click through when one example is clicked it will bring me to the next, this is employers biggest pet peeve about portfolio sites, they want to get through them as quick as possible.

 

Kudos for sharing. The site looks to be coming along nicely.