GRC 175 Learning and Discussion Forum

Although a lot of people seemed to like the dog giraffe (and I do too), I went with the "distressed" style version of my concepts. I feel the whimsical jungle version had a lot of potential for animation and textures and to just be really fun, but ultimately, for myself, I just really wanted simple. Even on my simple version I played with adding more things like "finger frames" and like one suggestion from the prelim critique said, little tools showing that it was working on (or erasing) the photos. However after seeing these, it was just too much for me. I mean if not for the project requirements I would love to strip out more- the body text, the class name, and the TMCC logo. I would love to just have the title, the menu, and a single image. Sometimes, although not always, I feel such strong creative energy from a blank spaces.

I did make some changes to this from the prelim, although they may not be easy to catch. The biggest change is I removed the dark blue text bubble that I had behind my text in the previous version. I liked the bubble because I felt it added an extra shape and some more dimension. It was not being used to make the text pop. However it was a suggestion to remove it and I was not set on it so I took it out. I changed the body copy (and class name and email) font to something with a little more punch and also changed the body copy color from orange to black. I slightly resized all the text in the versions, sometimes this was very, very minor. I resized and stretched the logo a bit. I slightly resized the image in the mobile version. i changed the double lines on the bottom from black to orange to match the line at the top.

My designs are not overly dramatic, and perhaps a little boring, but given the project requirements, this is really close to what I wanted.

Useful sites:

https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/1 ... typefaces/
Although this site did not provide anything extra different about font choices and how they work together, I still found it a good summary with some nice tips

https://collegeinfogeek.com/personal-website-examples/
This one might be considered more "inspirational" than useful, but I did find it useful to look at these "top" personal websites and read critique about them. There is one on here for the author Teju Cole and you can see I "borrowed" a lot of their set up. I was really attracted to the simplicity of it and actually really, really liked it.

Hi Kevin, I really like the look of these, they are well done and easy to read, I only have a few ideas for you, I would make your name and the navigation larger so that they are front and center in the hierarchy, I would also increase the size of the text box, there's a lot of empty space. Also the font for the body text might be a bit too bold. Otherwise these look great!

I like your final designs I believe the mobile could use a bit more room for links.

Hey Kevin,

If there is anything I have learned so far taking this and my other class this semester it's that simple is not always a bad thing and that sometimes it can be even more effective, especially when the goal is to communicate an idea. These designs tell me that you work in design and that you create, which is probably what you intended to communicate. It works. The only thing I might suggest changing is the size of the wording in the mobile version, since they might be hard to find and click on if viewed on an actual mobile sized device.

Ah, you went with the one that looks like stationery. Good choice, Kevin.

It has a kind of "old print" quality. Like you pulled it out of an old ream of stationery and went to town on it. I think it's the organization of it. It has a '60s scientific stationery quality to it, like something DuPont or Monsanto might produce. I like the photo collage quality of your image, too. It looks like you cut yourself out of a magazine and taped yourself down or something. I like that you fought web boxiness by breaking your image out of your content area. That always adds visual interest. Good color selection too. Your oranges, blues, and blacks work well with your photograph and provide good contrast with your background. The grid helps with the stationery theme and adds a great background texture for your content. Your navigation is easy to see and use.

I don't think your bodycopy needed to be THAT bold, though. Also, I'm not a fan of your pinched navigation. The distressed type is just fine, I just don't think it needed to be vertically crunched.
'

Good work.

Hi Kevin!

Seeing this now and remembering your preliminary, I totally agree with the layout you ended up picking (although I am very much going to miss that giraffe dog ).

I think you totally nailed your use of space here - I feel the same way where a lot of negative space adds intrigue and interest rather than when the all the space is taken up. Your navigation is very easy to follow and the whole aesthetic almost has a gritty, artistic but precise feeling to ii. Its almost as if that background looks like the gridded cutting room table and everything around it (like the picture of you) is hand cut and is being placed together for a mockup (like the olden graphic designer days before computers). I think its awesome and it gives a ton of character to your site and is a fun play on website layout while still being very nicely organized, spaced out like a modern day site.

Honestly there isn't much I would change based on what you were going for and per my analysis above, I really like the feel of how everything is laid out. I do agree though that your body copy font could be adjusted and not be so bold/heavy. Your name logo and the navigation work very well though - I would just tweak the body copy font and you'd be golden.

Fantastic work and am really looking forward to seeing this turn into a real site!

Hiya, Kevin
Your design is lovely and has a lot of nice colors.
In your website version, it fits with the cut-off of the picture. But it doesn't work for your mobile version, and it looks like your getting eaten by the page, so I would find a way to fix your picture or put the words in the mobile version like they are on the web. Also, bigger letters for the mobile website have to squint to see what it says.

Besides that, I like it excellent job.

Hi Kevin,
I miss the dog giraffe already, but its memory lives on in our hearts. I like what you've done with this minimal design and its very balanced. I'm totally a color person, so this is nitpicky on my part, but the black type feels heavy on your light design, so if you feel feisty perhaps play with a color palette. awesome job.

Hey Kevin,

I do miss that giraffe dog, but I like the decision you made. This is much cleaner and more organized. It's still fun and has your personality so I think it was a great choice. I also love the colors you chose. I also like how your name is centered and on top of the page, it just makes your hierarchy really good! Overall I like it!

I don't remember your first draft, but this is a knockout. I like everything about it, you know why? It pulls me right directly at your picture which is relatable without being heavy, even though it's kind of a pensive look, it's also, lighthearted. Nothing else seems to be there at all, nothing distracts from the picture and your bio story that opens the door to who you are and what you have to offer. But then, after you read it and look at this great picture, all the info IS there, too, all around the edges, clear and plain and accessible. The fonts and arrangements of words is--I feel like I shouldn't like it, like, it's kind of like a textbook, or, idk, but I do like it.
Excellent, to me, this is excellent. :- )