For my final web review, I chose to review another portfolio site that is built in the same style as mine.
https://www.christammar.com/projects
This is a very well designed portfolio site. It is similar to mine in regard to its minimalism. The layout is quite simple and easy to navigate, making it work very effectively as a portfolio. The layout focuses primarily on images and uses words only where necessary. The navigation is also well done, and extremely simple. There are only two buttons at the top, which are “Projects” and “Contact.” The colors are extremely simple and minimalistic, which lend to a modern design, which is good for a Graphic Designer’s portfolio. As for texture, due to the website’s simplistic nature, it is all kept very simple. It is mostly white pages with images and minimal text on it, all to keep a modern feel.
Like Steve Krug mentions in Don’t Make Me Think, non-essential information should be cut from a website. This portfolio website takes that to the extreme, in that text is extremely minimal. I think it is done sort of well, however many of the images are left without context and it may be rather confusing as to what each of them represents.
However, another topic to consider covered in Don’t Make Me Think would be how quickly a user can use a site without thinking. And one key feature this site lacks, in particular, would be titles for some of these sections. The images act as links in this site, and when you hover over them, they turn nearly fully white with an eye icon over them. This is what indicates to the viewer that the image is clickable. However, the images alone do not make it fully clear what each image is supposed to represent, especially that in the bottom right. Without any headings in the image or any words to match it whatsoever, the viewer can be lost in this type of website.
My website aims for clear navigation throughout the entire system of pages. I have it split into three sections instead of two, as to not let each section get too cluttered. I also make frequent use of headings as that is what website viewers typically look for when they are looking for something in particular. I also use images for navigation, but in the My Work section, where it is clear that those images are my illustrations due to the presence of other illustrations in the area.
My website also uses quite a bit more words. Though I agree words should be kept minimal, I believe this website’s words are kept minimal to a fault. It feels like some important information is being left out. I am also unable to learn about the designer himself, as the website is primarily just images of his work, and very little about how it was made, or about him himself.