Graphic Desiger Logo?

As an impartial reader of this thread it does seem to me that the majority of members here are only trying to help. All of the criticism Ive read has been constructive and written thoughtfully and politely with logic and theory to back up what they are saying.

Critique is not personal, and Im sure when the original starter of this thread returns he will be pleased to see so much reaction to his post. Ive read every response and I have to agree with the majority. Romack, I wouldnt misread peoples advice and constructive criticism as anything other than just that.
 
davewill said:
As an impartial reader of this thread it does seem to me that the majority of members here are only trying to help. All of the criticism Ive read has been constructive and written thoughtfully and politely with logic and theory to back up what they are saying.

Critique is not personal, and Im sure when the original starter of this thread returns he will be pleased to see so much reaction to his post. Ive read every response and I have to agree with the majority. Romack, I wouldnt misread peoples advice and constructive criticism as anything other than just that.
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This is where we need a facebook type "like" button :up:
 
davewill said:
Critique is not personal,
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It's even more part of the job we're all in, if you can't take critique on board etc then you're in the wrong field as our work is ALWAYS going to be critiqued by our clients.

Having said that I can't actually see the op coming back if I'm honest not just because of the critique but how he found us etc....
 
The best designers can take critique, I guess it is down to how much you value it.

I know where to get my crit these days, so I rarely feel the need to post on here as I tend to tweet as I work and get great feedback from Dave, Becky, and a few unrelated (to DF) designers.

I used to like Chris' opinion...but he doesn't love us anymore...
 
like i said, just my thoughts. the majority of posters seem to be freelance, nothing taken away from that, it's just in my experience freelancers tend to have two polar expressions, the first being what they've learned at college and university; rules, regulations, codes, conducts, and personal policies guided by a lecturer or a book. The other is personal direction. This often being the more misguided of the two. I see people asking the forum, asking friends on the internet... this shows a lack of personal direction yet they freely hand out direction to others.

Personally i've worked and evolved under an immensely talented and highly experienced Creative Director, whose guidance over the years has made me a lot more confident of directing my own work, to the extent i now copywrite and design 90% of the work i do at the agency i work for.

All due respect to the people on this board, and i myself come here to offer advice, listen to critique and to generally enjoy my time reading about others' escapades in design, but, sometimes you seem to offer advice that is just so darn mundane it breaks my heart.

I thought this board was full of Creatives... which 20% of you are, man some of you have great work, great ideas, but the rest... you may as well be sitting behind a desk copying from a computer arts magazine churning out last years' ideas to make the books balance.

You may not listen to what i think, you may think i'm wrong. But believe me when i say i'm being honest, and there's no more to it than that, please don't misread this, no malice, no anger, this thread was just a catalyst for a little outburst against apathy. And i am confident that some on this board will agree with what i have said.

Anyways. I'm going back to work.
 
Romack, I actually do agree with your overall point against apathy but I think you misjudge the forum as a whole with some sweeping generalisations.

I would say more like 80% of the board here are full time creatives. Look at the regular posters, people like Levi, Berry, Tom Sound, Greg, Ken Reynolds, Andy Kleeman, Scotty, JasonWall. Some work in studios, some have worked in studios, some work indirectly in the industry and some have worked in studios and now choose to freelance, some run their own studios but none of them are part time wanabees fresh out of uni.

Also, your issue with people who ask for advice one day and then hand out advice the next is misguided. True, some do ask for advice often (myself included) and then offer advice freely, but isnt that the point of a forum such as this? Aren't we all here to learn as well as share our own experience? No one here has appointed themselves an expert in their field and no one claims to have all the answers. When a members asks for critique/advice it is only down to the generousity of the members here who give up their time and knowledge for free that keeps the site active. Nobody should be afriad to share their opinions on a piece of work, especially when they have been asked for it in the first place.

I, like you, have been fortunate enough to do this for a living on a daily basis. I also work in a busy studio and have been lucky enough to work underneath a highly experienced, award winnig Creative Director which has been a massive help to me but not everyone is that privileged. For many, DF is a virtual equivalent of working with an experienced designer. The thing that keeps the community alive and active is the ability to give and receive advice, to discuss and share ideas and to strive to help each other out.

If, as you seem to feel, only the well experienced, full time, studio based designers have a right to an opinion then the forum would loose the diversity and openess that makes it such a great place to be.
 
Romack - sometimes our responses are mundane due to the fact that the design(er) has made the mundane mistake that's being mentioned. If the person has issues with grammar for example then we'll bring it up as quite simply put, poor grammar gives a bad impression of your business.

A designer shouldn't be afraid of asking for another person's opinion, we can easily get tunnel vision when working on a design and to have a fresh perspective on it can sometimes give a completely new direction to explore which may either reinforce the original design as the best option or maybe produce something even better.

I'm sure even the likes of Berry (who works in a studio environment) has asked fellow workers to give his work a once over (or for him to do the same to their work), unfortunately for the freelancers we don't all have the luxury of working with other people in house so utilise the forum to get usually valuable opinions.

I'll be asking for a review/critique/opinions of my site when it's finished as I may have missed something or it may be able to be improved in a way that I didn't think of.

And another thing to think of as well, Berry started a forum thread called 'put up or shut up' where we were to asked put up our best/favourite work. Now it may be nda's (I have lots of them) or it may be a simple case of missing the thread but not many put up work.....
 
Levi said:
read my bit about your website :)
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Read mine too (in the thread about your portfolio site).

Your logo looks ok to me, but don't forget to define an exclusion zone. An empty area around a logo. Be generous as it will add value to it.

I think you should remove the divider and place your motto far away from the logo. And why not experimenting with some different letterings. I'd try many different fonts and colours before deciding. The lettering will also help you convey the concept of graphic design that the logo doesn't do much. Id also try different slogans or place significant images next to the lettering (not next to the logo).
 
See, this is why i love this forum, objective debate! I see where you are coming from and maybe i was too hasty to label, if i caused any ill feeling i apologise.

i appreciate everyone does their best, everyone needs guidance, and this design malarky can be a little daunting and confusing to a lot of inexperienced and experienced people.

Critique is a solid part of our lives, i just felt it was overly critical and had a little outburst which was infused with other niggles about the industry we're in and what i have seen.

But, i enjoy this opportunity to talk about it, discuss it and take other views on board. i am satisfied with this outcome and i can agree with some points and disagree with others.

I think it's the end of this particular episode. Good Game.
 
I would like to see how the gilmore visuals page layout improves with our advice.

I think you've got some good tips here and in the other thread you've started. Hope you'll put them into practice. I think something good will come out.
 
Yeah guys, some serious thanks to everyone.

I need all these critiques, as i never get anything negative from friends and family, just 'wow you amazing' and I know i'm nowhere close to good.

Thanks to mrp2049 for the photo analysis. I really understand what you meant when you got both the photos up and explained the differences. I will be changing the photo.


I need to admit something. My site was based on the blogger that i linked to you previously. I really liked his work which is why i 'copied' his layout. My problem is not designing websites, its getting the design to code for people to see it on the web. My primary reason for the site is a portfolio, not demonstration of my web-design skills. I never studied web design, just followed a tutvid (im sure some of you are aware of the youtube video tutorials he makes) tutorial and was limited to that. I am also in 6th form. I'm 17 (so i'll take the comment from mrp2049 saying that i looked about mid 20 as a compliment). I guess this reflects (to a small extent) my skill. I am studying graphic design at school and hope to develop it after school too - i do feel very limited to my creation, even though i love and have a great passion for it. When critiques (again, appreciate them all) come hurling my way i realize that I am not as good as people around me say I am. Even school friends and teachers continue the compliments but i know deep down its not true.

I will be making many changes to the site (and ill start to think about my logo too) when I get a little bit more time.

Thanks again.
 
Don't ever feel you need to rush into it. When I was 17 (I'm a few months shy of 30) I was still a disastrous drunk who spent his spare time either a: skateboarding, b: drunk or c: at a gig. Don't feel you need to get lost in this world yet. My first jobs were all free stuff for my friends, its taken a fair amount of time for me to get to the point that selling my soul to the corporate machine is the only way to pay the bills! (I'm working on a website for a stem cell research company at the moment)

As Becky said, if you feel your coding skills aren't up to the standard you want to be, I survived on a blogspot, carbonmade and recommendations/handshakes for a loooonnngggg time. They are easily maintained and easy to change. Then you can spend as much time as you need/want to on your coding skills.

I have always been a print focussed designer, and only recently moved towards web and coding as it has finally clicked for me and that has taken atleast a year to get to the point where I feel comfortable enough to design and code something I am willing to put my name to.

Stick around here, we are a nice bunch really, we don't mind helping if we can.
 
The age and experience thing is an interesting one as my work as a 17 year old was nowhere near this standard, come to think of it my old uni work was pretty shocking too, so I could have done with some online crit. It doesn't alter the fact that the points raised are still valid but perhaps the general tone of some of the critiques on the forum need to bear this in mind.

Having said that it is tricky as your online presence is as a professional freelance designer and doesn't give any indication of your age and the fact you're still a student. Anyway it's all good debate and kudos for taking the comments on board.
 
That is quite embarrassing.

I am starting to make some small updates now from the critiques i have received here;

- Adding all links from icons to full sized images
- Removing the ID photo of myself (what could I replace that space with?)
- Possibly changing the bokeh banner, although, not sure if it takes away a nice 'feel' of the site away.
- Link testimonials to the work for proof


So i'm still at the start with linking images to full screen.
 
The bokeh banner is unnecessary, imo. Why not put samples of your work in it's place? At the end of the day that's what you're selling
 
You guys @ HippySunshine & mrp2049 actually speak a lot of sense. It is only fair to give an honest and professional oppinion. Our team here will also be requesting some feedback of this kind very soon. Dean.
 
Well, the bokeh is a work example which I did make. I think if I did place some of my work samples it might distract the viewer from the page they are on.
 
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