Critique for my portfolio site

[rufusW]

Hi all,

I've been lurking on this site for some time now, have finally managed to get my portfolio site together, and am posting it here for you all to cast your knowledgeable eyes over.

Thanks go to the many contributors here and elsewhere.

Cheers,

Carl

http://www.fivetotwelve.com (http://www.fivetotwelve.com/)

[Cello]

Nicely done rufusW - I like the concept which at least for me, works well.

A couple of points however that you might want to think about:

1. Because of the background, the white text can be difficult to read. Maybe put an alpha'd box behind the text to make it stand out more?

2. The thumbnails for the portfolio I find really small. I appreciate you're wanting to reserve page real estate to display the larger images, but still they seem a tad small. How about larger thumbnails horizontally instead? Would probably keep the same real estate available.

Good job though - hope the site is successful for you :)

[BlueEyedMonster]

Did you post an earlier version of this site before? I just got the weirdest sense of deja-vu that I've seen a site almost exactly like this one (moving horizontally with the moving bg).....

Anyway, I think it's cool, but it takes an awful long time to load. I'd put a "loading' or something on the screen along with the dandelion thing, because I almost gave up on it.

I think when you click on one of the thumbnails, the first image in that series should load, and you should have something that indicates that the lower thumbs are more images of that series and not just other projects.

[jakattak]

BlueEyedMonster brought up 2 points I was going to suggest almost verbatim...

1 - add something to the dandelion screen to inform visitors that the site is loading. this could be as simple as just adding the word "loading". At first I didn't realize this was a preloader and almost left the site.

2 - when clicking on any project, consider displaying the first image by default. When I clicked on those, I wanted to something significant to happen, and what currently does happen isn't terribly apparent, at least it wasn't to me. Also, try some different treatment for the individual thumbnails, as they tend to blend in with the project thumbnails and I'm not sure the line separating them is enough for a visitor to make that distinction.

Also have 1 3rd suggestion:

3 - I think the small navigation text is fine, but when using a bitmapped/non-aliased font be sure to position the text precisely on a pixel. The word "home" is especially blurry.

Other than those suggestions I like it. It's got some very smooth paralox scrolling on.

[Fl4SH'ER]

There is no need to repeat what the others already said, but here are 2 cents:

1) I feel the site too slow, maybe "pump up" the frame rate a bit. I feel the animations way too slow.
2) Be sure the text from your menu buttons is placed on integers ( whole numbers ) because they are all blurry...
3) One question: Is that a real preloader or just a fake ? Honestly I'm getting the feeling that it is not an actual preloader... Don't know why, I might be wrong but it's a bit weird...

Good luck.

[rufusW]

Thanks for the feedback.

Some really useful and valid points raised.

As you're no doubt aware, it's so easy to get 'snow-blindness' when you've been looking at the same thing for a long period of time :cross-eye

Oh, and it's a real preloader. The 'seeds' float off as the movie loads.

I'll definitely need to look at the loading times. I know I tend not to wait too long for sites to load too.

Once again thanks.

Carl

[doctor_funk]

Agree with Fl4SH'ER, all good points. Check on the aliasing and speed.

[hybrid101]

love the parallax and the graphics:D
but it's either lagging or you should up the frame rate. and could you center it in the page itself?
good job:thumb:

[will roberts]

I like the concept behind the site but there are quite a few things i would change.
jakattak picked up on a few.

1: Preloader needs to have a loading bar so the user knows it is a preloader and how long he/she has to wait.

2: Portfolio page seems real awkward to use due to having to click the item and then selecting a thumb and as it is a portfolio site that should be the easiest page. I suggest what has already been said that once cliked the first image loads up on the right but i would say that the extra buttons should be placed underneath that with some wording explaining what to do next.

3: Top links are very blurry and should be much clearer. About me link should also be up there.

4: finally i would add some sort of border around the movie and set it in the center vertically.

Good work

[tommythewolfboy]

I like the horizontal scrolling and depth of field effect ... haha, working on a site at the moment that attempts the same thing so probably would say that! ;)

[Pasquale]

the preloader needs some visual indicators as to how long there is left

[Fl4SH'ER]

^ hmm, i don't think it needs anything... it's quite intuitive...
And I'm not really sure where could he possibly put an indicator... He would only ruin the overall aspect of the whole thing... Still, it might be something worth considering...

[jdk]

You got some really neat stuff going on there. I personally would move "about me" back into the main navbar for consistency. I would like to see the main nav buttons perhaps at the bottom over the black it would just look cleaner IMO. good job!

[monkeyhead]

the preloader seems out of place...maybe use something more generic, just so the browser/visitor knows what's happening. your work is great, the site functions nice...but everything is tiny. maybe beef up the size a bit.

overall it's great!
good job

[Pasquale]

^ hmm, i don't think it needs anything... it's quite intuitive...
And I'm not really sure where could he possibly put an indicator... He would only ruin the overall aspect of the whole thing... Still, it might be something worth considering... Something leading towards a final position (suggesting 100%)would be good ;)

[RonH]

I like that concept. I have seen it done on some site before in an australia type setting. It was DARN sweet. Every level though was one solid color. Anyway though...

I like yours, but I would alias the "home" "portfolio" "contact" buttons at the top. That (unaliased text) for me works best if its big.