Carbonmade vs Dropr

Jimlad

Well-Known Member
Hi guys, I'd like to pick your brains a little if you don't mind. Mmm... brains.

I've had my illustration work on Carbonmade for some time, and I've liked it there. Nice clean website etc, although to put a logo up requires crossing their palm with silver every month. And I'm not doing that at the moment.

However, I've recently been invited to try out Dropr, a very nice site with easy connection to all my social sites too, plus I can upload a logo. The background is more customisable than Carbonmade too. Although my logo seems to work fine in Safar but it isn't displaying for me in Firefox or Chrome for some reason... I've sent them an email about it.

Anyway, here's where you guys come in. I'll post both links below, and if you wouldn't mind taking a quick glance and saying which you think is easier on the eye (and if indeed it displays properly), easiest to use and access, I'd very much appreciate it. The winner will be pointed to by my jimalgar.com URL you see.

Carbonmade: http://jimalgar.carbonmade.com/
Dropr: http://dropr.com/jimalgar
 
hmmm.. toughie!

i prefer the textured background on dropr, adds a bit of depth to the page - i also like the image layouts (with the curved white stoke-outlines). I'm not too keen on the control panel on the top though.. are these customisable?

Also, on Dropr, you have a dead-image on there. (EDIT - sorry, mis-read your point about this on your post!.. ignore!)
 
Hi Jim,

Have you looked into http://flavors.me ?

I think this would be a good solution for you, as you can integrate all of your personal networks. For instance you could upload your portfolio to flickr, picasa, behance even facebook for free, and then have your own customisable website.
 
[font=Helvetica Neue'][background=rgb(255, 255, 255)]
hmmm.. toughie!

i prefer the textured background on dropr, adds a bit of depth to the page - i also like the image layouts (with the curved white stoke-outlines). I'm not too keen on the control panel on the top though.. are these customisable?

Also, on Dropr, you have a dead-image on there. (EDIT - sorry, mis-read your point about this on your post!.. ignore!)
[/background]
[/font]

I'm not keen on the control panel either, I don't think I can change it. I do like the background though. You can choose between a few textures and combine them with a colour, and thats the combination I went for. Noel at Dropr is having a look at the PNG file I used at the moment, in the meantime my Dropr account isn't using the logo, just plain text.
 
Right! The logo issue seems to be fixed. Please if anyone else can't see it, let me know.
I've also asked if there's any way to at least minimise those two control bars at the top... annoying!
I've also reshuffled the content and added some more. Just wish the overall look was a bit tighter. Still.
 
Hi Jim, sorry I didn't post sooner...

My first impressions are that the dropr site looks much more up to date and is a lot more appealing to look at than the carbonmade one, especially with the rollover effects. However, I don't like the layout of the dropr site. It doesn't use space very effectively at all, I'm using a 24" monitor with 1900x1200 screen resolution and I still have to scroll just to be able to see an extra 4 images. It all just feels too loose and slightly haphazardly thrown in. There's also way too much advertisement for dropr, it detracts from your professional image to have advertisements for other companies on your personal website. Not so keen on the design, having a content box being used for the header of a section doesn't look that good and misses out on some SEO opportunities. I also can't decide if I like the background or not, it's a little too fuzzy really, could do with having a texture that has a little more detail.

I would have thought you were making more than enough to get a proper website built for yourself? Portfolio sites are usually quite quick and cheap to build and maintain and you wouldn't have any advertisement for other companies, you'd have a lot more scope to get something with a much... tighter feel too.
 
Thanks for the feedback Squiddy. I thought the same about the background, its a tough choice between that and the other ones available on the site until I get time to make one of my own. I know little about SEO but it isn't faring too badly, pop Jim Algar Illustrator into Google and the dropr account pops up on page one, along with my carbonmade, Behance, LinkedIn, Odesk, Twitter, a post from DesignForums... even my old and completely unused blog remains near top of the list! Maybe I should make more use of it. Oh look, there's my Disney namesake too.

I've come to prefer the first look of Dropr, but I'm finding it sluggish to navigate in comparison to Carbonmade. Argh! Getting a proper site done is worth investigating, though I'd rather have one I can update myself rather than chasing someone else to do it. I mean if I feel like paying Carbonmade I can whack my logo on there and be done with it. Not impressed enough with them to do that though. I know there're options, just a case of finding the right one I suppose.

Until then, dropr or carbonmade will remain. Well, both will remain, but only one can have www.jimalgar.com pointing to it!
 
Just in regards to SEO, it's not terribly difficult to rank highly for your own name (especially when you have a slightly uncommon name anyway!) the point is more to attract people who are searching for things like graphic designer, illustrator etc without your name attached to it (Well I guess that depends on how you are set up as a business and what you actually want the site to do for you) but when it comes to making changes... well, what kind of changes would you like to be able to do youself? Do you know HTML/CSS? Even if only slightly, enough to make minor edits?
 
The short answer? No. The long answer? No, not really. Well can amend slightly but not really create.
 
And what type of changes would you be wanting to make with what level of frequency?
 
Taking the pattern of previous behaviour and extrapolating... any changes I can with indeterminate frequency my friend! I really don't want to be messing with code, it's not my area and it's been a long time since I lost interest in it. I think one of these new fangled front-end editable content sites will remain my favourite option. Simple and easy, despite a little inflexibility.
 
Well of course, but there's a big difference between changing some text and re-structuring the entire site, for example. I imagine that a (new fangled) CMS will indeed be the best route for you to go down. You are only required to learn a new GUI (Graphics User Interface) which won't be anything new if you're used to using a windows or apple computer. While you could do a lot of it yourself, there are of course many areas of CMS development that require technical knowledge, so to get a unique and professional site you would still need to work with a developer to some degree to get what you really need from it. You would in the end be able to make alterations to the content on your own without having to get someone else to do it :)

It boils down to whether or not you want a proper website or just a little portfolio really.
 
Yes I agree, I just finished reading it and posted a question relating to it.


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