originally posted in:Mythic Members
As an aspiring graphic designer, I've had it hammered into my head that I need to establish a web presence if I wish to better my chances at finding meaningful employment in my field. For me, this means creating a portfolio site.
I have no experience in web design or development. That being said, I hear all the time that the disconnect between web and graphic design isn't all that great. Many of the principles are the same, and a lot of it comes down to knowledge of what works and what doesn't. (As for coding, I have programmer friends that have already stated they'd be willing to lend me a hand.)
I have my own feelings about this, but I'd like to reach out and see what others think.
Does anyone (read: elmicker), know of any sites whose layouts/setup they're particularly fond of? I don't just mean portfolio sites; anything in general would be helpful.
I'm having difficulty determining a starting point, so I'm looking for a bit of inspiration here.
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I am posting here and I ain't Mythixal. This would be a problem for a website to have.
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Apple.com
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Certainly not Bungie.next. Slow, clunky, awkward. All features you don't want.
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Well, I know that Bungie.next is NOT an example of a well-designed site. . .
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Edited by Yuke: 2/17/2013 8:33:06 PM10 of the most beautiful online stores, according to The Next Web. I like the design of some. [url=http://thenextweb.com/dd/2013/01/13/30-new-inspiring-responsive-design-websites/1/]This list[/url] has some really nice examples of great design, although it is presented as an outdated and annoying slideshow.
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Edited by Salazar: 2/17/2013 7:18:40 PMGreat inspiration websites: [url=http://designspiration.net/tag/web/]Designspiration[/url] [url=http://mindsparklemag.com/?websites]MindSparkleMag[/url] [url=http://hellohappy.org/beautiful-web-type/]Beautiful uses of web typography[/url] Some things I like: [url=http://www.designweekportland.com/2012]Design Week Portland[/url] [url=http://www.richardphotolab.com/]Look at that header logo![/url] [url]http://saltsurf.com/[/url] [url=http://stumptowncoffee.com/]Stumptown Coffee[/url] [url=http://mailchimp.com/]Mailchimp[/url] [url=http://builtbybuffalo.com/]Built by Buffalo[/url] [url=http://www.googleventures.com/]Google Ventures[/url] [url=http://type.method.ac/#]Kern type![/url] [url=http://www.adxportland.com/]ADX Portland[/url] Cool portfolio websites: [url=http://www.sagmeisterwalsh.com/]Sagmeister-Walsh[/url] [url=http://jessicahische.is/awesome/]Jessica Hische[/url] [url=http://hovercraftstudio.com/]Hovercraft Studios[/url] [url=http://alwayswithhonor.com/]I've got a workshop with these guys on Friday![/url] [url=http://www.wk.com/]Wieden+Kennedy[/url] [url=http://katebingamanburt.com/]Kate BB[/url] [url=http://www.weareparliament.com/]Parliament[/url] [url=http://www.omfgco.com/]OMFGco. (one of the best studios in Portland)[/url] [url=http://www.weareinstrument.com/]Instrument[/url] Some good resources: [url=http://learn.shayhowe.com/]Great tutorial website[/url] [url=http://www.codecademy.com/]This can be pretty helpful[/url] [url=http://www.panic.com/coda/]Coda 2[/url] can be more helpful for beginners than a simple text editor. [url=http://abovethefoldbook.com/]A good book on web design principles.[/url] [url=http://htmlandcssbook.com/]A pretty insane book guide on HTML & CSS.[/url] [url=http://psu.gd/]Gotta plug my school...[/url] I <3 web design. To find great inspiration, you've just gotta know where to look. Oh and don't use B.net as a great example. It's decent, but not terrible. The front page is pretty sexy though. I can give you more stuff, but I've got shit to do right now. I'll be creating a web portfolio too at the end of the term. I am excite! Good luck! I hope this'll be fun for you! Don't let the frustration get you down.
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I really liked the old Bungie.Net design, now not so much.
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Edited by Top_Gun_2021: 2/17/2013 5:39:11 PMI am fond of designs like this. DreamWeaver is decent to use. [url]http://www.davidairey.com/[/url]
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Edited by milla da killa: 2/17/2013 5:44:14 PMI used to do graphic design as a side job, I have some links I'll fetch up in a bit, until then here's some tips to read through. 1- Web 2.0 < Read about it, know it. That's how the web is formed today, and nearly everyone has moved towards it (such as Bungie.next). 2- Web design is graphic design mixed with marketing. The layout and it's design is different for every customer, every target audience, purpose, etc. Things such as colors, borders, typography, etc. all have to be put into consideration. Things you should have already learned like the theory of color psychology (like how red makes you hungry/thirsty (see coca-cola), and black is professional and dark). 3- When you make a portfolio, possible employers are looking at it to get a hint of what skills you possess and the types of styles you do. Find a particular style/field and stick with it, and apply that to your portfolio. If your doing corporate website layouts, grunge isn't the way to go (should come without saying). 4- Typography, typography, typography. It runs everything with graphic design, and especially with web designed layouts. 5- Internet Real Estate. I don't remember the correct term, but if you want to make a nice bang for your buck and get some experience along the way, this is a sure way to make some cash. Simply find a domain (cookies.com), buy it cheap (do this for crappy websites that need a refresher), then work on it and make it nice and pretty, and sell it. I made a very, very nice pocket off that, and I kick myself in the ass everyday for not continuing it. 6- Find someone who's experienced, and ask them questions, a mentor of sorts. Get feedback on everything you do, and when you have a layout done, the best bet is to find friends or strangers and have them give feedback (does it look profressional/friendly?, can you find what you're looking for?, etc.) 7- Starting is always hard, and the hardest part. You just need to find some sort of inspiration, luckily if you get actual jobs they'll tell you what they want (I want it to look like facebook, myspace, etc.). 8- KISS. Keep it simple, stupid. Everyone always wants to use the newest Flash designs, or do overly complicated layouts. Fact is, the simpler, the better. Look at Facebook, perhaps not the greatest design, but it's meant to be simple. Using Flash, or having loads of images and styles slows the page down and makes it harder to navigate. Simpler is always better. The tell-tale sign of someone who's still new is making it overly complicated and not making it geared towards the company and the target audience. LINKS: <working on it, chill the -blam!- out.> [url=http://www.myinkblog.com/100-incredibly-kick-ass-freelance-designer-portfolios/]100 portfolio examples[/url] [url=http://www.smashingmagazine.com/]Smashing Magazine[/url] [url=http://www.dafont.com/]DaFont - If you don't have this by now you're wrong[/url] [url=http://justcreative.com/]JustCreative - Has some nice articles[/url] Flikr - Not going to post a lazylinky, if you don't have it, you're wrong [url=http://logopond.com/]LogoPond[/url] [url=http://bestwebgallery.com/]Best Web Gallery[/url] [url=http://dzineblog.com/2010/08/32-amazing-graphic-designers-portfolio-sites.html]Another link[/url] [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Isk88nT0sRY]Web 2.0 Explained[/url] EDIT: As a nice way to learn, go to Google, type in a random word, choose a random website. Answer these questions before anything (also do this for designer's portfolios) Does the website look asthetically pleasing? What is this website's purpose (without prior knowledge, and simply by looking at the design)? What is the target audience? Can I find what I want in under 5 seconds? Do I find my eyes racing around the screen? Does the website hurt my eyes at all? Is the website Web 2.0? What feelings does the website portray? Are the corners sharp or curved and why? Is it simple?
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Edited by Cheat: 2/17/2013 5:27:24 PMI'm in a Web Design class right now, and one of the sites my instructor loves is Apple.com. It's simple and uncluttered, easy to navigate, and displays the main display largely in the center of the screen with the two or three sub-displays below it. It's actually very similar to Bungie.net's design, actually (or rather, Bungie.net is similar to Apple's design).