Site Design
My site is largely a porfolio, in the sense that it should lead other academics, or co-workers, to the content most relevant to them. Since my site will largely be viewed by those first contacting me, it is essential that contact is the primary goal.
However, I am unsure if contact or information about me should be the initial splash page on my website. A site like this (while aesthetically not pleasing) does accomplish the same call to action. And although a site like this focuses only on the contact initially, I want to stress the personal factor as well. Since the viewer will likely scan through part of the page initially, maybe having the splash screen transition automatically to the contact page 2nd would be best. This would allow first views time to take in the site structure before being drawn (via motion) to the call to action. In addition, a 3rd page would be contained in this splash section for the most recent major activity.
There should be as few as possible site layers for my site
On the home page, I don’t think that there should be much more than the title, navigation, splash section that shifts to the right (or left if selected), a small text area devoted to other segments of the site, and the bottom section. I was considering having 3 major update sections: press released (for completed content), weekly releases (for activity updates), and a blog that is not opinion-based. While these segments are nice for a person who wants to keep up with me, the majority of site veiwers are coming for the first time. Thus, focusing precious screen real-estate on this would not benefit my main call to action.
As for design, since I am going to be programming parts of my site and changing the style sheets, my search for a theme was limited to only structure. There are 2 themes I found that capture the feel I am looking for. I feel that the Cushy theme best captures the layout I want for the inital viewer, where the splash and navigation capture most of the site’s view. However, I need some of the functional elements that the Coffee Break theme – which should be very familar to all of you by now – utilizes. Hopefully, the layout changes to the Coffee Break theme should not be too difficult to implement…
detectivex
on March 11th, 2010
Daryl,
I too am doing a portfolio website. For your blog, though, you say that it will not be opinion based? So then what will it be? Will you be reporting on industry news?
Perhaps you might want it to be opinion-based. This portfolio website is supposed to be about you, so why can’t your blog reflect that?
I don’t think that people will find a home in a portfolio / industry news with no opinion site.
Or are you waiting to do an “inside the industry” kind of blog when you get a job, like I plan to do?
Things to think about.
joefreeland
on March 28th, 2010
Hey Daryl
A pure white background with black text is kind of bland. It seems you have browse links right underneath your main navigation, which seems redundant. What is the purpose of this site? If it is just a personal site then the information you placed is good. If this is a portfolio, telling potential employers you tend to move around a lot isn’t going to make you seem dependable.