Thread: Portfolio/CV/Website advice

Hello!

This is my first post and I am looking for some friendly advice on my CV/Portfolio/Website. I have been working as an in-house graphic designer for the last 8 years and I am now moving to London to be with my girlfriend and I can't move until I have a job so this is really important to me. I have been applying for jobs for the last few months with little luck. I know that competition is stiff and so I have tried to show work which is as varied as possible to show the depth of my experience.

CV James Heaton - Graphic Design Portfolio | cv
(Please download the PDF in the bottom right hand corner to view my full CV.

Portfolio James Heaton - Graphic Design Portfolio | cv

My website is www.jamesheaton.co.uk

I appreciate this is a big ask to look through all three but if you have any tips, advice or criticisms on either item I would be very grateful!

Cheers
Bomiginty

FYI guys - I work with this guy every day, and as great as he is, he eats ALL the jaffa cakes and makes the most bizarre noises, so if you could help get him outta here and down to Londondinion, that would be greatly appreciated :icon_tongue_smilie:

Aww c'mon guys, give the guy a little help, you're blocking the path of true love here, he gotsta get a job in London! Help him out, I'm too close, he needs some none-friend opinions please.

From a layout p.o.v, although it's generally quite nice, I don't like the header/navigation in the footer or that the web page navigation is off the screen at the fairly common resolution I'm using.

Originally Posted by Dave L

From a layout p.o.v, although it's generally quite nice, I don't like the header/navigation in the footer or that the web page navigation is off the screen at the fairly common resolution I'm using.

Thanks for comments Dave L,

I have updated the site so the navigation is now at the top of each page, hopefully will make using the site less frustrating!

Thanks for the tip, I really appreciate it.

What us ut about designers that they eat so much?!

Looks fine to me - though some bits seemed to take a long while to load (or is it the cr*p speeds here?). Perhaps some customer feedback or more of a case study that just a portfolio - show how you solved a problem / exceeded someone's expectations

Originally Posted by Katedesign

us ut

IS IT - who moved the 'i' key on my keyboard?!

Originally Posted by Katedesign

What us ut about designers that they eat so much?!

Looks fine to me - though some bits seemed to take a long while to load (or is it the cr*p speeds here?). Perhaps some customer feedback or more of a case study that just a portfolio - show how you solved a problem / exceeded someone's expectations

Personally I'm not a fan of the customer feedback thing, I have always felt it cheapens websites, and I always assume the customer feedback quotes a fake anyway, and I'm sure many others think the same. I think though that a very short explanation of each piece of work (problem/solution kinda thing) is a good idea and should definitely be on most items of work, with perhaps the odd one where the project was particularly taxing or interesting with something a little longer written about it.

I too am finding most parts of the site quite slow to load.

Hello.

Re. portfolio. Not keen on the borders/frames within borders and more frames!

The graduated vertical bars are too severe and the shadows need making smaller in width if you are trying to create the look of the central panel coming out of the page. Or else extend the bars to the full height of the browser window.

I'd rather see a simple black and white site with little/minimal embellishment than too many little fussy details.

:)

Really appreciate all the comments made so far!

I agree there definitely needs to be more explanation on each job and I will work at making the look of the portfolio page less busy!

Looks like I have my work cut out for this evening :P

keep em coming it's much appreciated!