My Web Design Portfolio - WIP

Wow, big image!

but that is really good!

you are very good at web design!
 
big background images are kind of out in recent webdesign - and you want to stay as recent as possible. We're seeing more textures etc. now. Whenever possible use CSS3 to generate images instead of using images which increases load time.
 
Jonathan said:
big background images are kind of out in recent webdesign - and you want to stay as recent as possible. We're seeing more textures etc. now. Whenever possible use CSS3 to generate images instead of using images which increases load time.
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Thanks for the feedback, actually staying away from CSS3 for the time being, not all browsers support it currently and I'd rather wait until they mostly all do before I start coding in CSS3
 
All up to date browsers support CSS3 and usually you can get away with it on IE, but if not how many people genuinely interested in your services and creating a website will be using IE?

Safari 4 does well, Firefox 3.5 does well, Chrome does well, Opera doesn't do well, all the IEs fail massively but you'd expect that wouldn't you? I use CSS3 quite happily and I'd use it on a web design site because it would show potential customers you're up to date.

If you want to wait though that's understandable, it does bring up quite a few browser compatibility issues

http://www.findmebyip.com/litmus
 
Jonathan said:
All up to date browsers support CSS3 and usually you can get away with it on IE, but if not how many people genuinely interested in your services and creating a website will be using IE?

Safari 4 does well, Firefox 3.5 does well, Chrome does well, Opera doesn't do well, all the IEs fail massively but you'd expect that wouldn't you? I use CSS3 quite happily and I'd use it on a web design site because it would show potential customers you're up to date.

If you want to wait though that's understandable, it does bring up quite a few browser compatibility issues
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it would show potential customers you're up to date.
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On the other hand it could do the opposite.
Who visits a web design site to get a website made for them? Someone who doesn't have the skills to do it themselves usually.
If they enter my website and have an older browser or an incompatible browser with CSS3 and my site is entirely CSS3 they are going to see a garbage site and well obviously not purchase any web design from me if my own site looks horrible to them.

By staying a little in the past before CSS3 it ensures the website will look good to those people as well as others. Sure it may not be currently up to date but I'd rather have that then my website be seen improperly for the worse to a potential customer.
 
Meh it's up to you. Obviously it'd be silly to create the entire site in CSS3 but when you can avoid increasing load time with images it might be worth it.
 
Jonathan said:
Meh it's up to you. Obviously it'd be silly to create the entire site in CSS3 but when you can avoid increasing load time with images it might be worth it.
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I'm not too worried about the load time 😉
Chances are no one will be looking for web design services on a 56k connection
 
I like the general design, although feels like a gaming site at first/quick glance.

Not a real fan of the background, and does take long to load compared to the rest of the site, meaning it makes the whole site lag (I have fast cable, so it's not my connection). Don't expect everyone to wait for it to load into their cache, otherwise you won't have many people revisiting.

You may not be worried about load time, but what about people using/browsing your site? You have to make the site for the user, not the creator. To make it load faster, have a white blank space where the body would be as no one will see that. It will reduce the file size significantly. Also, I don't think the nT logo on the background suits it; maybe a small one in the corner, or floating their (so no one steals it), but the nT logo is quite a distraction.

Apart from that, you've got a nice site going. Good luck.
 
DavidL said:
I like the general design, although feels like a gaming site at first/quick glance.

Not a real fan of the background, and does take long to load compared to the rest of the site, meaning it makes the whole site lag (I have fast cable, so it's not my connection). Don't expect everyone to wait for it to load into their cache, otherwise you won't have many people revisiting.

You may not be worried about load time, but what about people using/browsing your site? You have to make the site for the user, not the creator. To make it load faster, have a white blank space where the body would be as no one will see that. It will reduce the file size significantly. Also, I don't think the nT logo on the background suits it; maybe a small one in the corner, or floating their (so no one steals it), but the nT logo is quite a distraction.

Apart from that, you've got a nice site going. Good luck.
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Funny it takes my cell phone less time to load the background then it does that tool haha ^^
Anywho not sure what you're talking about with the "have a white blank space where the body would be as no one will see that" at all however as I said the site is a WIP and nowhere near done. I could change the background completely tomorrow, who knows! I surely don't, just going off what looks good and works for now, anything and everything could change 😉

As for the logo in the BG I'm fine with it being a distraction. If some one is distracted by it then it will be stuck in their mind which is great seeing as it's the logo for the website. I may reduce it's opacity some so it's not sticking out as much however right now I see it fit.
 
maybe put the up to date one up but then have a link saying cant read this?

which will then load the one you currently have 🙂
 
that would mean I would have to take care of two sites instead of one.. any change/update I do I would have to do twice >.>
 
Funny it takes my cell phone less time to load the background then it does that tool haha ^^
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That's because it's in the cache already, whereas Pingdom Tools takes it from a new user, not one who has been on the site before.

Anywho not sure what you're talking about with the "have a white blank space where the body would be as no one will see that" at all however as I said the site is a WIP and nowhere near done.
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Example: http://wp.christianbullock.com/wp-conte ... ges/bg.jpg

As for the logo in the BG I'm fine with it being a distraction. If some one is distracted by it then it will be stuck in their mind which is great seeing as it's the logo for the website.
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That's bad thinking, no offense. One may remember, but why would they return back to a site that is distracting? I, for one, wouldn't return to a distracting site. You may be fine with it, but are clients/users? That's what you need to find out, hence topics like these which provide user feedback. If one person can point that out, surely another thousand people can. Consider it from a user perspective and you site will do well.
 
DavidL said:
Funny it takes my cell phone less time to load the background then it does that tool haha ^^
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That's because it's in the cache already, whereas Pingdom Tools takes it from a new user, not one who has been on the site before.
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Incorrect, was freshly loaded not in the cache.

Anywho not sure what you're talking about with the "have a white blank space where the body would be as no one will see that" at all however as I said the site is a WIP and nowhere near done.
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Example: http://wp.christianbullock.com/wp-conte ... ges/bg.jpg
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Not really an option at all, the layout of the content does not go 100% up, the blank space would look horrible at the top seeing as it's a dark design, as well as the content body being transparent to some degree which again a white space wouldn't look proper.

As for the logo in the BG I'm fine with it being a distraction. If some one is distracted by it then it will be stuck in their mind which is great seeing as it's the logo for the website.
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That's bad thinking, no offense. One may remember, but why would they return back to a site that is distracting? I, for one, wouldn't return to a distracting site. You may be fine with it, but are clients/users? That's what you need to find out, hence topics like these which provide user feedback. If one person can point that out, surely another thousand people can. Consider it from a user perspective and you site will do well.
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I think you mistake the point of the site. It's not a site that users would visit daily like a forum. The main reason a user would visit would be to see my work and possibly purchase services which unless they are constantly buying websites they most likely would not return for a long time anyway which I'm assuming will take place.

I appreciate your feedback however you need to understand that the whole "distracting" thing is in fact your opinion. Another person may feel that it's actually inviting and appealing and not distracting at all as well as another "thousand people" that share that opinion. When you make a website you will never be able to please everyone; I'd rather please people with a design that pleases me as well rather then make one I find "uglier" since I will be the user most on the site. Yes that may sound selfish however if someone likes my style I would much rather design a site for them with my style then have to change my style into something I find less appealing.

Out of 50+ people I've gotten feedback from you are the only one that has bad feedback about the "distracting parts", all others enjoy it and think it is appealing.

I showed those same people what it would look like without them and every single one said it looks better with them. Just trying to show you that there's too many opinions to please everyone, if 1000 people like the design and 500 don't (random figures), why change it to have 500 like it and 1000 not liking it. Yes it could go the other way and be 1300 liking it and 200 not from the change however I myself currently like it.

Why design something for my own use I don't even like?


Again I do appreciate your feedback and am taking it into account, I just am trying to point out that to me if a good number of users like it, and I also like it, compared to a few that don't.. I am certainly going to keep it the way it is.
 
Do note that I made my response in response to this comment:
If some one is distracted by it then it will be stuck in their mind which is great seeing as it's the logo for the website.
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I know what you mean and I agree with you to some extent, but could you name me a portfolio site/major design site that has such a background similar to yours? Your background's white contrast is more eye catching than the actual content. What good is that, design-wise?
 
Well honestly.. that's your opinion, not everyone's.. I'll leave my answer at that.
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Not really, it's general web marketing knowledge.

some random ones I found within a couple minutes:
http://www.tutorial9.net/
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You can hardly call that "similar" to yours. If you remove the nT logos, then it's similar, design-wise. Plus, it's of clearer opacity.

not a design one but still - http://www.radiumlabs.com/
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They use a 2010 trend of integrating the background design into their content, namely change of perspective design concept. It's not what you have done.

Not as big but using two large images as the bg: http://electricpulp.com/
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I haven't been arguing about the large images as much, but anyway, it's the same concept of integrating the background into the content. They used the wood features and fused it with their design. It's not just a background image anymore, but a marketing tool.

Anyway, that's off topic. Again, I am just providing feedback, from a designer's perspective and a user perspective. I don't require you to use them, but I am 100% sure it will help you in the long run. Good luck 🙂
 
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