As one of the three main deliverables for this project, I
have created a mockup of a website. These website pages have been created to
give a basic idea of the style and layout which I would like to use when
creating my actual online portfolio. I have taken many of the design cues from
some of the high quality portfolios that I found for the portfolio review task,
while making sure to avoid some of the common mistakes which appeared in the
bad portfolio examples.
During the research into existing portfolios I found that
one of the most effective ways to make the website look tidy and professional
was to use a style which featured either very little or no colour outside of
the white to black gradient. Websites featuring either a white or a black
background, with all of the text in shades of grey helped to keep them from
looking overly cluttered or amateurish. For my website I chose to use a dark
background, with a lighter shade of grey being used for any text or borders.
After initially trying a plain dark grey background I decided to change this to
a simple carbon fibre texture, just to make it look a little less bland and to
separate it from the numerous other portfolios out there with similar designs. Another
reason for having a simple, dark house style is that it means the eye is always
drawn towards the work itself rather than getting distracted by any other area
of the page.
Along with the background, every page on the website will
also feature the navigation bar shown on the left. There is a heading at the
top of the bar with my name, along with a subheading stating what sort of work
is featured on the website. Below this are the links to the three main sections
of the portfolio, the homepage, the about page and the contact page. At the
bottom of the navigation bar, I have chosen to add my email address. Whilst
this email address is also available on the contact page, having it shown on
every page just makes it much easier to find for anybody interested in
contacting me. For the actual website, I would want this navigation bar to stay
in the same position while the rest of the page scrolls (demonstrated on the
Mad Max page shown later) as this makes the entire website much easier to
navigate.
The Homepage is the first page of the website that anybody
will see, so I’ve made sure that the work is immediately accessible from this
page. I have used the small versions of the custom banners I created earlier to
create a list of each project. These banners are clearly visible on the
Homepage, which I believe instantly separates this from many other portfolios
out there by showing an extra level of attention to detail. The page can easily
be added to, only requiring a new banner to be created for each new project I
want to include.
Home Page
Clicking any of the banners will take you to the individual
page of each project. Each of these pages includes the larger version of the
custom banner at the top, with a number of renders of each project below. At
the bottom of each page I will include a paragraph of text about the project.
In this I will give details about the project brief that was originally given for
it, an overview of the reasoning behind the theme and a summary of my personal
responsibilities for any projects which were done as part of a group.
For the Mad Max page, I have shown an example of how the navigation bar on the left hand side will stay in position whilst the rest of the page scrolls.
Circus Environment Page
Le Mans Environment Page
When reviewing other portfolios, I found that one area which
was commonly not up to standard on the bad examples was the About page. Many of
the worst portfolio examples had About pages with featured nothing more than a
name and possibly a location, whilst the best portfolio examples had extensive
About pages which included the persons interests, past work experience and
education history. For my portfolio I’ve made sure to include plenty of
information about myself on the About page, although what I’ve put on the
mockup is only a sample of what I would like to include.
About Page
Another common error I found with poor quality portfolios
was a lack or even complete absence of any contact details. Regardless of
whether or not your work is good, if it’s not possible for an employer to
easily get in contact with you then there’s no chance of them offering you
work. Along with the email address displayed on every page, I’ve also created a
Contact page. This page is easy to access, with a link to it on the navigation
bar, and includes numerous ways to contact me which I have made up examples of
for the purpose of the mockup.
Contact Page
Overall I think the house style I have created for my
website works well, looking highly professional whilst also ensuring the
website doesn’t look cluttered and without drawing attention away from any of
the actual modelling work on show. I have addressed a couple of the major
issues that I found while reviewing bad portfolios, a lack of content on the
About and Contact pages, as well as including a few design ideas inspired by
some high quality portfolio examples, custom banners and navigation bar, to create
a professional portfolio which I feel would give me the best possible chance of
attracting the attention of possible employers.
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