Portfolio site

[BrentMellecker]

Hey all, just finished my site. could use some critique and comments. I [U]think[U] everything is working right, other then the resume button (havent dropped it on the server yet)

www.BrentMellecker.com

take care

Brent

[bkt]

Good looking site, very functional. Nice portfolio pieces on display, though you could lose a couple of the older animations, they serve no purpose, as the newer ones are pro. Keep us informed of new animation additions please!

[kkbbcute]

If you ask me the site looks too plain on first inspection, as the colors are too dull and "cool" and there are no bright colors to attract the eye of the users.

The navigation is simple, which is a good thing, but then again it's really dull and lends nothing special to the site. The changing background looks slightly irritating, and the first page doesn't catch the sttention of an onlooker.

Too ordinary a site overall.

[rawmantick]

1. Everything is written in capital letters and in some crazy font. Looks like you were trying to kill reader's eyes rather than make the text more understandable...

2. List elements make the user to think that they are clickable... I don't know why it's so...

3. When being in "about" part and mouse is over the "links", the last one appears to be completely white.

4. When you fade the logo, there are some bad intersecting parts of it. Make the logo consist of one details, rather than several overlapping...

5. In animation images given are of a very bad quality, some of them...

6. 5-elements logo look incomplete, like it need to be worked on more...

Honestly? Boring...

[kkbbcute]

1. Everything is written in capital letters and in some crazy font. Looks like you were trying to kill reader's eyes rather than make the text more understandable...

2. List elements make the user to think that they are clickable... I don't know why it's so...

3. When being in "about" part and mouse is over the "links", the last one appears to be completely white.

4. When you fade the logo, there are some bad intersecting parts of it. Make the logo consist of one details, rather than several overlapping...

5. In animation images given are of a very bad quality, some of them...

6. 5-elements logo look incomplete, like it need to be worked on more...

Honestly? Boring...

Yes! Finally Someone else who has learnt to give harsh criticism so I don't feel so lonely!:p

Jokes aside you should really take our comments into consideration, the constantly flickering background and cheaply done graphics makes it look like a hasty job and a boring site won't attract people to it.

[BrentMellecker]

Thank you all for the feedback. I'm not offended at all about the bluntness, much better to be upfront. I'm definitly going to change the font, and change out the thumbnails, I'll try and spice it up a bit.

thanks again all.

[maskedMan]

You could give the transitions from page to page a bit more spice. As it stands, your overall structure could just as easily be an HTML page with a flash gallery on your portfolio pages.

I agree on dropping the student work from your video selection. You've come sufficiently far that you don't need to risk any of them being the first thing that your visitor sees in their random clicking.

[kkbbcute]

You could give the transitions from page to page a bit more spice. As it stands, your overall structure could just as easily be an HTML page with a flash gallery on your portfolio pages.

I agree on dropping the student work from your video selection. You've come sufficiently far that you don't need to risk any of them being the first thing that your visitor sees in their random clicking.

Agreed, but one thing to point out, they won't even bother to go to the page to see all the works done. Add more life and animations to your site, and add some gradients for a more professional look, trust me.:D

[yell0wdart]

I'm kind of in agreement with the other guys here. Your design looks pretty dated. A lot of artist portfolio websites look that way, though. So, they way I see it, the site blends in quite a bit with whatever else is out there. As an artist (and a former art student myself), if I were developing a portfolio site for myself, I'd want it to pop.

Things to consider for making the site better:

- Rethink the color palette. It's pretty drab. More color and contrast in the right places will really hi-light the important parts.

- On the front page, there is WAY too much emphasis on "The 5 Elements". I thought it was navigation at first and found myself wanting to click them. They look more important than they actually are.

- The navigation, I think could be punched up a little bit, along with some of the other elements (buttons, etc). They all look very plain, and aren't very noticeable. It takes the user a couple min to figure out what they need to do to get around on the site.

From a usability perspective, I think you've got a solid foundation. Things behave intuitively, and once you actually drill down into the site and see some of your work, it's fairly well done. Your biggest issues, though, reside on the surface. Just make that prettier, with an eye toward usability, and I think you'll have a pretty awesome site. ;)