a little too brandon rike-ish for me
those links are HUGE
and ive never been one to support when people put up rejected artwork, its misleading

Kyle Crawford said:a little too brandon rike-ish for me
those links are HUGE
and ive never been one to support when people put up rejected artwork, its misleading

Don't really see the Rike connection - aside from the fact that he also happens to have a Dribbble feed, square thumbnails and links using what appears to be Gotham?

As far as the rejected work thing goes, I guess that is just personal preference.

ive shown it to a few people to see if I sounded like a dick, and they agreed
rike just recently dropped the orange, but it has orange, and I know you lurk his stuff, so its not like you havent seen it

Kyle Crawford said:ive shown it to a few people to see if I sounded like a dick, and they agreed
rike just recently dropped the orange, but it has orange, and I know you lurk his stuff, so its not like you havent seen it

Of course I've seen his site, I dig his work, but I've used orange/black/white for years with Mainframe Media, it's not like he has a copyright on a color I've been using for almost 5 years. If you're implying my color scheme is something new just because Rike did it you'd be way off there.

Brandon uses Futura.

I'll be on my way.

no im saying your site looks like rikes, thats what im saying here

Dont see the brandon in your site.
I like it, the links are a bit to thick.
And a filter for all your work would help. besides that I like it.

I don't know man, I guess you're getting on my case because there is a dark header, followed by some white space with content, and a dark footer to follow it up? The layout of his blog, contact form, profile page, and basically everything aside from the work is all completely different, and it's not like either of our work pages are something terribly new and different from a million other sites anyway.

I'm digging it, don't really see it as it biting Rike though. Love me some Futura and Orange.

Looks great. I do agree about the links being a bit too big. I know they're the same size as the title but visually they appear to be bigger due to their white color. I personally would love to see them a bit smaller. Other than that, looks great and it runs nice and smooth. Congrats.

Overall i like the new work you have up there. couple of things im not keen on though:

the thing that pops up on hover of the thumbnails distracts from the work, not really sure what it adds. you have the colour being introduced on hover, so is there a reason for having anything else? i agree on the links being a little clumpy at the top too.

The portfolio navigation in general feels unintuitive. you have three levels of navigation, all of which are in different areas. i dont think users should have to discover how to navigate what should be a very simple site. not sure how much of the layout was directed by yourself, but i thought id mention it anyways.

other than that, really solid work. congrats!

I like the site, but I definitely see Kyle's point. It is reminiscent of Rike's site. At the same time, that type of portfolio has been done numerous times. My biggest suggestion for the site would be to get better images of your pieces. Its awkward clicking to view a piece and then seeing the top half and having to click through to see the bottom half. I'd also suggest that if its an apparel design, mock it up on a shirt template. I've always felt it looks better if you can see the finished product along with the design, even if its only a mock up. Other than that though, site looks good. Definitely digging the color scheme. I've been big on orange lately as well.

i wouldn't change a thing. looks really good.

Thanks everyone, suggestions noted, and I think I agree on the link size.

William Henry said:My biggest suggestion for the site would be to get better images of your pieces. Its awkward clicking to view a piece and then seeing the top half and having to click through to see the bottom half. I'd also suggest that if its an apparel design, mock it up on a shirt template. I've always felt it looks better if you can see the finished product along with the design, even if its only a mock up.

In the works my man, ordered a bunch of AA samples and I'm making my own mock-ups later on this week. Just had to get something up now as my Cargo page subscription was running out.

I think the text/image at the top is too big, and I like the orange as an accent color. So for the "contact me" form it's a bit much. But for me personally, I hate contact forms, I'd prefer to just have an email link. Especially since you're not really asking for much extra info. Also your footer is a mess. And lastly, I've never seen the point in adding a picture of yourself, I can't imagine it'd ever help you unless you're a girl with a huge rack.

Overall, I'd say everything that is Futura make smaller, delete the contact form and your picture, and basically everything that is in your footer should be moved to the About page.

But I don't see really an issue with the Brandon Rike site "similarities", frankly I don't like his, it's slow and went a little overboard with "extra features" and transitions and whatnot.

Everything is so BOLD on the main page that I'm not too sure where to look and that pulls down your hierarchy. Is there a way to have the portfolio thumbnails be at 25% opacity and black/white until they're hovered? I think that small tweak would help.

I also get a bit of a Rike vibe, but I think that's because his site is so unique in our crowd of merch designers so I wouldn't sweat it...

I really like how quickly the site responds when you select something and I put unapproved work too if it's a strong piece. A lot of my favorite work goes unapproved...

I like it. Better than my shitfolio.

yeah pretty cool man.

TRIBE said:I'm digging it, don't really see it as it biting Rike though. Love me some Futura and Orange.

it's cool. gotham is the new helvetica.

agree with the crits for the most part. could use a couple touch ups here and there.

Acid said:

TRIBE said:I'm digging it, don't really see it as it biting Rike though. Love me some Futura and Orange.

100% Accuracy.

I dig it!

I really dig it, but I think Sam's onto something. I think lightening up some of the type, maybe the navigation links become bold upon hover? I also agree about the little + thing that pops up over the images. I don't think it's necessary. Do you need to list Among Villians as a client? Isn't that your own brand? Lastly, If you have clients listed below, it's probably best to show the work you've done for them.

Other than that, it looks really nice!

Hell, I dig it :)

I like it a lot.

Lmerrill - Just because I have certain clients in my list doesn't necessarily mean I'm allowed to show the work I did for them yet - otherwise I assure you they would be showcased. I think I also agree with Sam on toning down the size of the links and maybe ditching the arrows on the hover state. As for listing AV as a client, it's only there to keep it uniform - it would look a little off if everything had a client listed and then suddenly nothing for those projects.

Adhesive - I considered not having a photo in the "about" area but decided I'd rather go with it than without. I figure that most people want to physically see who they are working with to avoid the "faceless corporation" vibe which I think adding the photo does. Chalk it up to personal preference and reasoning I guess.

Thanks again for all the critiques, good or bad.

did someone say Orange?

VNM said:did someone say Orange?

HA!

But I must agree with most critiques and suggested tweaks. Other than that, it's a sick portfolio and an amazing body of work, Jason. Makes me want to actually get one and ditch Tumblr. :P

Jason Cupcakes

Johnny Carne

bmoore said:i wouldn't change a thing. looks really good.

agreed.

VNM said:did someone say Orange?

Thanks for all the feedback people, much appreciated.

The about could use a bit of work in my opinion. The two things that strike me is the photo (as mentioned before) could either be removed or at least made to look like a bit more of a professional. I realize that you think you look cool in it, but to a company wanting to hire someone, you probably don't. Secondly, the 2nd paragraph in the about is completely unnecessary, and in my opinion, counter-productive. You aren't building up or describing yourself, it comes across as if you are bashing a large contingent of designers and other professionals with formal education. You could state that you chose to be self-taught to retain your artistic freedom in one sentence instead of speaking so negatively about others. I would drop it entirely or at least rewrite it with much less ridicule of other designers and educational institutions. I understand it might be important to you, but it comes off as childish.

bluchez said:The about could use a bit of work in my opinion. The two things that strike me is the photo (as mentioned before) could either be removed or at least made to look like a bit more of a professional. I realize that you think you look cool in it, but to a company wanting to hire someone, you probably don't. Secondly, the 2nd paragraph in the about is completely unnecessary, and in my opinion, counter-productive. You aren't building up or describing yourself, it comes across as if you are bashing a large contingent of designers and other professionals with formal education. You could state that you chose to be self-taught to retain your artistic freedom in one sentence instead of speaking so negatively about others. I would drop it entirely or at least rewrite it with much less ridicule of other designers and educational institutions. I understand it might be important to you, but it comes off as childish.

Appreciate the feedback - even though I disagree for the most part. Schooling doesn't make someone "less" of a designer by any means, I may have inadvertently came off that way so I'll work on re-wording it a bit to avoid that vibe. However, I'm proud of being completely self-taught in my trade and should have no reason to feel bad about that, that bit is staying.

As for the photo, it's not there because I think I look cool, it's there because that's just what I look and dress like on a regular basis - the kind of work I bring in is not from suit & tie type people and that's just not me either. I'd rather be honest in my presentation than fake some image for an extra client or two.

Not bashing your viewpoint by any means as I totally get where you're coming from with them and from your posts around here I know you know what you're talking about this business - I just happen to respectfully disagree in these circumstances in a matter of personal preference.

I do not think that it is wrong to say that you are proud of being self taught, but that is different than language like "silly and counter-productive to my creative process and generally stiff in its lack of ability to instill true inspiration" and "not a by product of tepid standardized education being served to batches of aspiring young artists." Those are negative comments about having a formal education, not positive comments about being self-taught. It's important to say what is good about how you learned, instead of what is not bad about how you learned. Best of luck, no problem with disagreeing.

I see what you mean, I've just always felt that design was something that either comes naturally or not all, much like athletics. My issue with schooling in this particular field is that you are placed within a large group and then simultaneously taught how to do the same things in the same ways as the rest of your peers. That's fine for most businesses, but in a creative field, I do think to an extent that it IS counter-productive. Learning the software, or code, or printing techniques all make sense in my book, but being taught what design itself is just feels weird to me. Anyway, thanks again, and I'll definitely phrase that in a more friendly tone.

the site looks killer dude.

bluchez said:I do not think that it is wrong to say that you are proud of being self taught, but that is different than language like "silly and counter-productive to my creative process and generally stiff in its lack of ability to instill true inspiration" and "not a by product of tepid standardized education being served to batches of aspiring young artists." Those are negative comments about having a formal education, not positive comments about being self-taught. It's important to say what is good about how you learned, instead of what is not bad about how you learned. Best of luck, no problem with disagreeing.

Agreed, saying education is silly or counter productive makes me instantly write you off.

Jason Carne said:I see what you mean, I've just always felt that design was something that either comes naturally or not all, much like athletics. My issue with schooling in this particular field is that you are placed within a large group and then simultaneously taught how to do the same things in the same ways as the rest of your peers. That's fine for most businesses, but in a creative field, I do think to an extent that it IS counter-productive. Learning the software, or code, or printing techniques all make sense in my book, but being taught what design itself is just feels weird to me. Anyway, thanks again, and I'll definitely phrase that in a more friendly tone.

Schooling (getting coached) is a huge part of succeeding in athletics. That comparison doesnt hold. Stuff looks good though.

Matt Borchert said:The difference is he labels them as rejected work, and not in the body of work where it looks approved. Don't be a keyboard warrior hiding behind a fake account.

Huh?

Jason Carne said:

Matt Borchert said:The difference is he labels them as rejected work, and not in the body of work where it looks approved. Don't be a keyboard warrior hiding behind a fake account.

Huh?

Someone made a fake account bashing Kyle, then deleted their post.