Project 1 preliminary critique

[Instructor]

Wow. Man, this is a talented class. Sal, you're, I believe, the fourth person who has posted two equally good designs. Pick whichever one speaks to you.

The use of the Paris skyline photo is a good choice on your first one. It tells a story without needing words. Also, it adds a lot of visual interest to the background of your layout. The green is an interesting choice. It definitely works, but it also makes the whole thing look like an old school chalkboard. Your hand over the name is also an interesting choice. It adds such visual interest to the design and it's different color stands out against the green and white of the design. Good font selection as well. Your chosen fonts play well together, and the script type you have your name in looks like it was written out with chalk on the board. I like the diagonal direction of your layout with all the important content proceeding from the top left to the bottom right.

I'd recommend taking a picture of your hand where less of it is clipped off to the side so you have a full hand on the design. I would also be tempted to add just a touch of a background-matching green outer glow to your text to pop it off the background. It's currently getting a little caught up in the city detail, especially the class info and TMCC logo.

The photo collage on your second one is super strong. It visually tells so many stories that would take far too many words to say. I also like the font you chose for the "SAL BARAJAS ALVAREZ" text. It looks like and old billboard. The lack of color does not seem to be a drawback here. I expected it to be, but it gives the whole thing a film noir kind of look and feel. Your content is in pods all around the page, but it all gets tied together by the background image and the fact that they're not too far apart. I also like the bling sparkles as well. They look like some 60s TV show opening credits. Like your name has appeared in sparkles.

I think you've got a font too many on this one. The serif type works well the gothic type in your navigation, but clashes with the font you used in "SAL BARAJAS ALVAREZ". Maybe swap the serif bodycopy type with a sans-serif and see how that works with the "SAL BARAJAS ALVAREZ" type and the gothic type.

Excellent work!

[Mal-Festio]

Hey Sal,

You have really great ideas for your layouts. I think my favorite set between the two is the second set. I really into the achromatic color scheme you have there. I do think you have two many expressive fonts, the ones for your name and buttons. Maybe try some more fonts for the buttons, but that's if you want to.

I do also like your first set with the hand over your name. Maybe one idea to try out to fix the clipping is to forward view of a hand facing up with its fingers slightly curled up. Sort of like it's handing the name over to the viewer. it's somewhat hard to describe

[Kassandra]

Hi Sal,
Love your website designs! For your second rough, I would only suggest that you pick one decorative font. Two decorative fonts make the design unbalanced and take away from each other. For your first rough I would play with the font family you have chosen. For instance, bold, semi-bold, and regular to give it more hierarchy.

[comicsansfanclub]

Hi Sal,
I'm liking your first design the most. I like the font that your name is in and I'm liking the overall feel of that design layout. If it's possible, I would play around with a photo of your hand that isn't cut off and making it look like its coming from the bottom trying to reach up to your name. I think that would look very cool!

[rmepinero]

Hi Sal!

I love the colors you used they work really well alongside your images and other design elements you’ve got going in your layout. For the first set of designs, you could maybe move your hand a bit more so your name isn’t hidden as much and that way your client can get to know you! The second set of designs is just super cool and dope and I can’t put my finger on it but overall it’s aesthetically pleasing, like every font and color you used works so well together.

Great job!

[kmohara5190]

Hi Sal,
I really like your second design, it reminds me of the Great Gatsby, I think because of the color scheme, font and stars. I think if you were to change the “projects, home, and inspiration” font it would fit a little better, and look less medieval. Good work!

[MatthewCS]

Hey Sal,
I like your second concept, I think the typeface you chose for your name in the center fits well with the background of buildings. I think you should try to find other fonts for your files, maybe a sans serif instead of a serif. That would probably fit best with the background. You should also add some borders to your files, maybe some black borders with the opacity lowered so that the background doesn't distract from seeing the files.
It's looking pretty good so far!