fabrydesign Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 http://fabrydesign.com/ My portfolio page. I'm pretty happy with it, but I've gotten pretty mixed responses about the brick. Also unsure what to put in the sidebar for the portfolio, projects, and awards sections. What do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nrg_alpha Posted March 29, 2009 Share Posted March 29, 2009 Ah, a fellow gamer in our midst? Nice to see your site validate At first, I wasn't sure about the brick wall pattern, but I don't think its bad (although I'm not convinced it completely fits in). I would definitely explorer other background prospects. About the text in the header ( the /welcome, then the bigger 'Welcome to my new site', and finally the 'I didn't like the old one. So I made a new one. Amazing, right?'. I would consider axing all that and instead insert a small statement summarizing what you do (or something else more useful than what you currently have). Would make more effective use of that space if you are going to have small messages like that. The about me section could perhaps be about Fabrydesignco instead, with nice written copy reflecting the company instead? As it stands, it feels as though you are trying to fit a company into a personal page. Instead, I would focus on the company and the services it offers instead. Have a look around at web developer sites for example. Make note of what they have written to give you some ideas. The aesthetics are clean and simple. I do like the sections as they are TBH. Again though, there is a sense of confusion given that you started a company, and are trying to fit a company into a personal website (which doesn't work, IMO). I checked your homepage on Yahoo's yslow, as the page wasn't downloading as fast as I figured it should (not that it took long, but I expected faster). Well, it appears the total size is 705.2k.. a bit large for something like that IMO. There are a couple of things you can do to save yourself some bandwidth and make your site more responsive... You are using 7 javascript... Might want to consider a) merging some, and b) minifying them (just google it, there are plenty of tools for that) and c) gzipping them. Passing your homepage through smushit.com shows that 13k could be shaved off of your images. Related to the last bit, your css images account for the most memory (491.3k - Your tiling brick pattern is quite large at 1024X983!). This area could really use some serious reductions Bottom line, I would focus on the company, the services it provides (perhaps adding some incentives for clients), and making the site more lightweight / streamlined. It does look nice though, but it is conflicting with that it represents / what the goals are.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabrydesign Posted March 29, 2009 Author Share Posted March 29, 2009 Thanks for the nice critique. I would definitely explorer other background prospects. I designed the site with the ability to change the background and not having to redesign the entire site in mind. About the text in the header... I would consider axing all that and instead insert a small statement summarizing what you do (or something else more useful than what you currently have). Would make more effective use of that space if you are going to have small messages like that. It's currently a placeholder. I'd put things like product launches, "major news" or whatever in there (like the sidebar version next to it). Instead, I would focus on the company and the services it offers instead. Have a look around at web developer sites for example. Make note of what they have written to give you some ideas. I'm really unsure what to do here. I'm a one-man company, and I don't really want to give a kind of false impression I'm more than a just a student building websites in my free time (if you know what I mean). You are using 7 javascript... Might want to consider a) merging some, and b) minifying them (just google it, there are plenty of tools for that) and c) gzipping them. Passing your homepage through smushit.com shows that 13k could be shaved off of your images. Related to the last bit, your css images account for the most memory (491.3k - Your tiling brick pattern is quite large at 1024X983!). This area could really use some serious reductions I'm well aware of the huge filesize issues, but thanks for the specific data. I'm definitely looking for ways to optimise it. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Imad Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 Doesn't look half bad. The brick is interesting. Maybe give the overall main site look a more outdoor look to match the brick? How about some green grass near the footer to give it a lively look? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrMarcus Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 looks good .. word of advice, never hard-code an email address into a page unless you enjoy spam, 'cause there are many, many bots out there scanning pages for such scenario's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabrydesign Posted April 1, 2009 Author Share Posted April 1, 2009 looks good .. word of advice, never hard-code an email address into a page unless you enjoy spam, 'cause there are many, many bots out there scanning pages for such scenario's. <script type="text/javascript">document.write('wfab'+'ry'+'@f'+'abrydes' +'ign.com')</script> I think that'll throw them off long enough... besides, Gmail does a good enough job of keeping my inbox spam free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrMarcus Posted April 1, 2009 Share Posted April 1, 2009 looks good .. word of advice, never hard-code an email address into a page unless you enjoy spam, 'cause there are many, many bots out there scanning pages for such scenario's. <script type="text/javascript">document.write('wfab'+'ry'+'@f'+'abrydes' +'ign.com')</script> I think that'll throw them off long enough... besides, Gmail does a good enough job of keeping my inbox spam free. good stuff (Y) just picking at things a little here .. visually, i find having text set in a few points from the outter-most-left of a heading to be nice. for example, see your header /about me, the blob of text below it, "I'm Wade Fabry, a high school student..." is hanging out to the left of the left edge of the header. try just setting some padding on those .. maybe it's just me. besides that, a congrats is always in order when a site validates, especially both css and xhtml, so at least you're moving forward with the right fundamentals (Y) also, lose the /welcome above the "Welcome to my new site" .. doesn't work. and pad the headings down a few points from the horizontal lines .. would improve (ever-so-slightly) the visual. i'm a fan of the colour-scheme .. always fan been with those colours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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