Week 11

Today I just noticed a new problem – the size of my portfolio is too big for some screens. My screen is set to a resolution of 1280*1024, and when I tried to access it from a computer at my colleagues place on ¾ of it was viewable on screen at a time because their monitor was smaller with a lower resolution. This meant I had to go back and resize my portfolio to a much smaller size, except I wasn’t sure as to what size make it. After much questioning of people online as well as offline I finally decided to make it a little smaller than 800*600. This way even the smallest of monitors will be able to view it, and even though it will full screen for them at least they will be able to view it. And for those who have large monitors, it may be a little small for them but they can always zoom in a little to counter that.

I’ve also decided on a name for my portfolio which should help make it more distinctive and assist in giving it its own identity. The name is:

When I was thinking up the name I kept in mind that I wanted to give the viewer a feeling of fun and enjoyment as well as making use of a playful word so that I/my portfolio didn’t come off as being very serious and insipid. I think by using this name I achieved that, also the way it has been presented using the large clear font with the low opacity reflection beneath it helps bring back some of the seriousness which may have been lost with the choice of the name.

After this I spent a lot of time creating mock ups of what I would like to have on the front home page. I wasn’t sure if I should have information of regarding the portfolio showing, or if I should have a slide show of my latest work on show or simply just a short welcome message. After the many, many many mock ups I created I finally settled on two of the concepts. They both consisted of abstract shapes and were considered to be of a minimalism style. I took these two designs and put them through numerous colour palettes and eventually settled on a look which I was pleased with.

Front Page Concept 1

Front Page Concept 2

It was quite time consuming trying to get all the colours, look and even the feel of the compositions right at this stage, but in the end I am pleased with the outcome. All that remains is for me to choose one out of the two concepts to use as the home welcoming page.