I think the final design works affectively
and reflects the research I’ve looked in to since It follows the same
simplicity, ease of usability and design aswell as looking sophisticated and
corporate, this gives the right message.
The
white space is used fully to balance the splash of the colour pink that keeps the
branding consistent around the website without focus of the work of the
portfolio being distracting.
From my research I looked at different
style portfolios in how they layout their work, what is the first thing you see
in glimpse of the home page, the colours used-black and white websites and how
the colours are used in the elements of website, the type of pages,content and
navigation
At first I thought that black would be
suitable for the overall web page colour as I thought the black would contrast with
the light colours to make it stand out more but when trying a white background
in comparison I find that the result was the complete opposite as in the white
stood out more and had bring the design more together complimenting it.
At the beginning the navigation of the site
was going to be a top menu bar, this is commonly used and usually gets lost
when scrolling, so I decided to change this to a side bar that sticks so the
user knows at all times where to go to change the page.
It also allowed fitting in the space for
the logo, which helped to shape the design.
Following the font used in my logo I felt
with the font being quite legible, clean and modern, I found that using this
font throughout the site, was another element that helped keep the branding
consistency
I had problems with adding the size of the
content, as it had to be a certain size, as if it turned out larger than the
scale required, it would run out of the frame and look sloppy.
So the content like images and text had to
be kept within size this one of disadvantages of using a border as of it being
restrictive.
This is due to the borders outside lining
the content of the page and without this it may not be clear which part belongs
to what of the site with out as it divides the site in to sections that help
ensure easy navigation.
The navigation is easy with 4 pages created
to make the site:-
·
Home page-links back with
clicking the logo
·
About me-info on myself as a
designer and who I am
·
Portfolio-purely for my work
with images and text description used underneath so the user knows what each
design is about.
·
Contact-one image with mainly
text of details
The three pages are all templates used from
the home page as the menu is always at the left side and the design is always kept
the same with room left for the content in the middle and right hand side of
the page to be displayed.
When content is added it creates the border
on the right hand side, the only disadvantage of this is that, it may look cut
short as it not always the same length with the border on the left or if the
content is longer than the menu side bar it will sit the same length and will
not be long as the right border that follows the length of the page content,
there fore most of the time the border are going to be different sizes and not
look professional.
To add instant interest to the home page
with this being the first thing you will see, I added a slideshow and found it
quite fitting as it add interest and makes the home page professional.
It also allows the user to have a glimpse
at the type of design work I produce and persuade them to go straight to the
portfolio page.
This being a strong advantage needed to
help sell myself as a designer and shows what type of website they are looking
at.
If I was to do this again then i would make
the height of the webpage to be longer as it looks stretched sideways with
empty space sitting underneath the website as it does not fill the page.
For the portfolio page I would also shape
the preview of each design in to a circle and then for it scale to full size
when clicked, giving the light box affect. This would help to make the
portfolio look more professional.
The original design for my contact page was
going to have a submission form that would send direct e-mails from the site, I
found creating this to be too complex and ended up opting for the basic way
just having text to display my details and for the user to have send a e-mail
from their e-mail provided instead with people being increasingly lazy on the
internet it may put some people off so to have this feature could make a difference
as its easy and convenient for the user.
This something else I would include in to
improving my website.
If I studied the language of coding in abit
more depth, then I would have been able to make the site a lot quicker and
enable to produce a less basic site with more design elements to it however
with Dreamweaver was very foreign to me and trying to building each element I
began to understand some of the code like what it does and how part of one the
codes determines how it will react to give the desired affect, to somewhat
degree because of this I have gained valuable knowledge and picked up some
skills in building websites in Dreamweaver.
SWOT Analysis
• Strengths - What did I do well?: my research was though rough and allowed my give a good design to suit my portfolio
• Weaknesses - What do I need to improve? writting essays - not being sure of myself wether i put enough or the right content in to my work especially like this project, that involves writting essays as of essays i feel not being my strongest point
• Opportunities -What do I need to do to build on my strengths and weaknesses?
keep doing what im doing and keep practicing writting to better myself.
• Threat - What could stop me achieving my goals? my weaknesses
SMART
- Specific - Well defined:need to work on being abit more confident and little abit more self assured about what i am producing in to my work
- Measurable - Know when it has been achieved: i will be able to smoothly write essays
- Achievable – Are the goals achievable:yes if i work on it as much as possible
- Realistic - Within the availability of resources, knowledge and time: i will do this from my own knowledge of how i will improve on this, with time,effort and self determination to do it, each time i approach my coursework.
- Time Based - Enough time to achieve the goal:next project.
