redesign of portfolio

[wedelgaard]

Hi Guys,

I recently did a redesign of my portfolio at

http://wedelgaard.dk

What do you guys think? Constructive criticism is very welcome

 

[NathanCH]

It's pretty good, you spent a lot of time on something that most people skip which is your work. A lot of the projects have descriptions and multiple images. Good job!

Everything here is pretty solid. The only thing I don't like is that the url is always the same. If I wanted to link someone to one of your projects, well, I couldn't.

And now I'm just nit picking, but every image on your site has rounded corners except the photo of you on your about pages, maybe add a border radius to that.

Great job overall. One of the better and more complete portfolios I've seen on MR.

 

[JoeG4]

That's a pretty darn nice site :>

No, lemme rephrase that: This is what a portfolio SHOULD be! It's simple, straightforward, and lets you quickly see what you're looking for. I think you could set it up to shrink or expand with the window if you wanted to get fancy, but it's pretty darn nice.

 

[wedelgaard]

It's pretty good, you spent a lot of time on something that most people skip which is your work. A lot of the projects have descriptions and multiple images. Good job!

Everything here is pretty solid. The only thing I don't like is that the url is always the same. If I wanted to link someone to one of your projects, well, I couldn't.

And now I'm just nit picking, but every image on your site has rounded corners except the photo of you on your about pages, maybe add a border radius to that.

Great job overall. One of the better and more complete portfolios I've seen on MR.

Thank you I guess you are right. I will try to change some of the border/border radius to see how it turns out

I'm not sure how to change the URL since its a 1 page layout, but there must be some JavaScript solution for it?

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That's a pretty darn nice site :>

No, lemme rephrase that: This is what a portfolio SHOULD be! It's simple, straightforward, and lets you quickly see what you're looking for. I think you could set it up to shrink or expand with the window if you wanted to get fancy, but it's pretty darn nice.

Thanks. The window should expand/shrink according to the screen size, although there it wont scale further down than 1024px. I guess I should make a mobile version as well.

 

[SrWebDeveloper]

Excellent design and easy to use navigation, I loved it. Bravo, well done, and thank you for not using Flash to accomplish it. jQuery usage is clean and well executed.

The only criticism I have is minor and is my personal choice, I admit. I think in the Portfolio -> All page you should set the sort order from newest to oldest left to right, top to bottom. Meaning, that calculator app which you note in your own copy is "your first app" - it should not be devoted to the top left position which is the most valuable on the page. That's where the eye goes first studies have shown. I know you're proud of your first app, but positioning it there tells users visiting you're a novice and clearly you are not.

I also would suggest you add the month and year of the project on the details page at the top, near the title, for uniformity and so potential clients can see your progression over time plus associate project timelines with your resume' during job interviews or when they vet you for potential work. Follow?

You can always create another "Highlights" or "Special Projects" tab at the top and put a few very special projects there or something along those lines

I hope you note that I consider your site first rate, the advice given above is more about marketing and to show your best and most recent work off with as few clicks as possible from a business perspective.

Golf clap, well deserved, for the design and concept and execution.

-jim

 

[twietee]

A tiny question: you say that in 2011 you quit your full-time job to follow your dream (or sth similar) but what you've done before isn't mentioned anywhere, is that made intentional?

p.s.: my browser doesn't allow me to go back to the site before and I'm forced to use 'your' button. I don't like that.

 

[wedelgaard]

Excellent design and easy to use navigation, I loved it. Bravo, well done, and thank you for not using Flash to accomplish it. jQuery usage is clean and well executed.

The only criticism I have is minor and is my personal choice, I admit. I think in the Portfolio -> All page you should set the sort order from newest to oldest left to right, top to bottom. Meaning, that calculator app which you note in your own copy is "your first app" - it should not be devoted to the top left position which is the most valuable on the page. That's where the eye goes first studies have shown. I know you're proud of your first app, but positioning it there tells users visiting you're a novice and clearly you are not.

I also would suggest you add the month and year of the project on the details page at the top, near the title, for uniformity and so potential clients can see your progression over time plus associate project timelines with your resume' during job interviews or when they vet you for potential work. Follow?

You can always create another "Highlights" or "Special Projects" tab at the top and put a few very special projects there or something along those lines

I hope you note that I consider your site first rate, the advice given above is more about marketing and to show your best and most recent work off with as few clicks as possible from a business perspective.

Golf clap, well deserved, for the design and concept and execution.

-jim

Thanks Jim, actually the calculator app is my most recent project, thats why its located top left corner Good idea with the dates i'll incorporate that.

 

[wedelgaard]

A tiny question: you say that in 2011 you quit your full-time job to follow your dream (or sth similar) but what you've done before isn't mentioned anywhere, is that made intentional?

p.s.: my browser doesn't allow me to go back to the site before and I'm forced to use 'your' button. I don't like that.

Before 2011 I worked at a large telecommunications company in Denmark (about 6 years). I've had different positions like service consultant, sales coordinator etc. but I realized that my career was about to go in the wrong direction. I wasn't really glad for my jobs.. So I quit and started on my education.. Best decision I've ever made

So to sum it up I've had different non web development related jobs in the past, so I thought it wasn't really worth mentioning.

Web development and design is new ground for me. I Have been working with this about a year now.

 

[twietee]

Congrats to your decision then!

I was just asking though, because some empoyers/clients like to see more of 'the whole picture', but I have really no clue how these app-dev things work..so of course do as you think it works best. Just for example a big firm likes to see that you worked /experienced big business already before etc..but nice portfolio anyway.

But re your forced buttons/movement...is it just my browser (safari) or did you program that? I wouldn't do that.

 

[wedelgaard]

Congrats to your decision then!

I was just asking though, because some empoyers/clients like to see more of 'the whole picture', but I have really no clue how these app-dev things work..so of course do as you think it works best. Just for example a big firm likes to see that you worked /experienced big business already before etc..but nice portfolio anyway.

But re your forced buttons/movement...is it just my browser (safari) or did you program that? I wouldn't do that.

Ah sorry, forgot to answer that part. The "problem" occurs in all browsers, because the page is a one page layout, to reduce load times of images etc. The backside of the medal is, that you never actually shift away from the index.html site, which means that the back button won't work

 

[2bFrank]

Love the simplicity of your design, you certainly have an eye for design looking at your portfolio (i'm also a big fan of fancybox , nice to see someone else using it).

Things I would change, I understand why you have built the site all on the index, to get the effects, however it seems strange seeing it on an actual site. I've seen it before with jqtouch and iui but never on a full website. I agree with other posters that you maybe best fragmenting your pages for usability, this is just my personal opinion though.

Also I noticed you have done a small bit of responsive design on the site, but unsure why you have neglected to follow it through on the smaller screens. If you maximise your site, you get nice big icons, however if you start to shrink the window, you get the normal site, and that’s it. It would be good for people viewing your site on tablets and phones to see a more optimised version. Google fluid grids for more info about this.

However the above is only what I would do, keep doing what you are doing as you seem to be doing well.

 

[wedelgaard]

Love the simplicity of your design, you certainly have an eye for design looking at your portfolio (i'm also a big fan of fancybox , nice to see someone else using it).

Things I would change, I understand why you have built the site all on the index, to get the effects, however it seems strange seeing it on an actual site. I've seen it before with jqtouch and iui but never on a full website. I agree with other posters that you maybe best fragmenting your pages for usability, this is just my personal opinion though.

Also I noticed you have done a small bit of responsive design on the site, but unsure why you have neglected to follow it through on the smaller screens. If you maximise your site, you get nice big icons, however if you start to shrink the window, you get the normal site, and that’s it. It would be good for people viewing your site on tablets and phones to see a more optimised version. Google fluid grids for more info about this.

However the above is only what I would do, keep doing what you are doing as you seem to be doing well.

Thank you for your criticism. I know my responsive web design only scales up from 1024px at the moment. When I get some more time I will make it fit small screens below 1024px, but thanks for pointing it out.

Regarding the usability I couldn't agree more. Its not optimal as it is now, I'll try to find a way to maintain the basic usability rules while keeping my one page layout