What’s Your Preference?

3bayjunkie · #1 (**permalink**) 06-07-2011, 05:20 AM

Yaar! Ahoy Maties! uhh, not sure why that was my first thought when I started this thread... I need to redo my website. I am not very good at html or any sort of programming at that rate, however I do enjoy programming when I do. Any help or ideas would be welcome.

I have a Science Degree in Digital Media ::: Welcome to COLBYJACK.COM ::: is my website. Last time I updated it was 2005. I have Dreamweaver CS5. I used Dreamweaver 4 to create the one you currently see. I want to scrap this old website and start from scratch making it into a photography portfolio.

This time I want to create a simple page layout using mostly html, making it as easy as possible to browse from any mobile device as well as on a desktop computer and laptop.
I like the layout of Scott Kelbys website, however I don't want to copy it completely. I want something original yet simple enough to browse through.

Thanks for the help,
CJ

oneronnalee · #2 (**permalink**) 06-07-2011, 06:25 AM

Well here's something I can talk about. I agree, personally I like quite minimalistic web design as I find it more aesthetically pleasing, but at the same time you have to find the right balance - too many times I've been on photographers' websites where the design is so minimalistic that you struggle to find what you're looking for (and the same goes for overloaded designs).

Use a simple colour scheme, neutral colours work great in my opinion (white, black & grey) - especially for a photography portfolio, as none of the colours will clash with your images. If not, I'd say try using more mutes tones rather than bright ones, you don't want to detract the viewer from the image with a red banner. Keep it simple, I personally think simple logos work better and look more professional than flashy ones - after all you're running a photography business, not a graphic design one. You want your name to be noticeable visible but not overbearing on the page.

I had a look at the site you said you liked and the design seems to be blog based, if you're setting up a portfolio I'd say go for a gallery type of page instead - I find it very disheartening scrolling through pages and pages of posts - clear gallery sections for each type of services you offer will be more appealing to clients. Blog is a good idea however, you could always set one up and link to it from your portfolio - they allow the potential clients to have a peek into your workflow and they can make them more confident in your abilities.

Just my opinion, but hope it helps

And when you're further into developing it, feel free to message me and I can give you some feedback on what works and what doesn't. I haven't done HTML for years so I can't help you there but graphic design wise I've been at it for a long time

Good luck!

Ronna

smc1377 · #3 (**permalink**) 06-07-2011, 07:11 AM

Yeah, Scott Kelby's site is definitely blog-based. The good news is that most web hosts have some sort of control panel where you can just install a Wordpress Blog as your website, then you can go choose from thousands of themes to install on your site. The other good news is that this is all done with just a few clicks, no programming or design knowledge needed. There are then some other intricacies you'll need to learn like how to stop spambots from posting on your site or other little neat widgets you may want to include on your site (like a Calendar). But for the most part, since you have programming knowledge, you should understand what to do pretty quickly.

Check the control panel from whomever is hosting your website to see if they have Wordpress blog capabilities.

BigFuzzy · #4 (**permalink**) 06-07-2011, 07:52 AM

yeah, seems like you want something Wordpress based. themeforest.com has lots of nice themes that you can edit to your hearts content (mine is a theme from them that i've modded with ZERO knowledge of css/programming).
Also Photocrati is worth checking out.

Good luck and post some results when you get there.. we love commenting on new websites.

Just make sure you use the word "passion" a lot on your website!

3bayjunkie · #5 (**permalink**) 06-07-2011, 08:10 AM

I really like the portfolio layout on Scott Kelbys site. they just re-did it, and if you can find on his blog where he explains his new web layout, it makes a lot of sense.

I just woke up and had this idea for the web layout. I was thinking to make it look like facebook and when you click on my photo it goes to my portfolio. Maybe it is because I just recently watched "The Social Network" but I have programming fever! It would be cool to have it look like the facebook layout but of course not exactly the same. and then where your "wall" is on facebook would be where i write about what im doing, ie "hey guys im in Germany" or "Just got back from deployment" "flying to Peurto Rico this weekend" stuff like that, and people can hit a tab that switches it to a public feed where people can write on the wall but its not on the same wall as where I write. umm... Also maybe I'll make it so others can sign up and upload their own portfolios. Now we are getting into some serious coding

I dunno this is just ideas. I kind of like the idea of an interactive portfolio. but then it branches into a photography based social network and I would have to run tons of scripts. I am intersted to know how many lines of code Facebook is made up of.

I am kind of in the mindset to code the whole page from scratch, rather than copying pre-made code, id rather read about how to manipulate certain actions from code and using Dreamweavers built in coding assistance. This is both to build my web portfolio and also to build my web design skills

I'm interested to hear the responses from THIS as I'm thinking a lot of you will disagree with me.
I gotta go back to sleep... Pink Floyd ftw!

out,
CJ

BuddhaPi · #6 (**permalink**) 06-07-2011, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 3bayjunkie

I really like the portfolio layout on Scott Kelbys site. they just re-did it, and if you can find on his blog where he explains his new web layout, it makes a lot of sense.

I just woke up and had this idea for the web layout. I was thinking to make it look like facebook and when you click on my photo it goes to my portfolio. Maybe it is because I just recently watched "The Social Network" but I have programming fever! It would be cool to have it look like the facebook layout but of course not exactly the same. and then where your "wall" is on facebook would be where i write about what im doing, ie "hey guys im in Germany" or "Just got back from deployment" "flying to Peurto Rico this weekend" stuff like that, and people can hit a tab that switches it to a public feed where people can write on the wall but its not on the same wall as where I write. umm... Also maybe I'll make it so others can sign up and upload their own portfolios. Now we are getting into some serious coding

I dunno this is just ideas. I kind of like the idea of an interactive portfolio. but then it branches into a photography based social network and I would have to run tons of scripts. I am intersted to know how many lines of code Facebook is made up of.

I am kind of in the mindset to code the whole page from scratch, rather than copying pre-made code, id rather read about how to manipulate certain actions from code and using Dreamweavers built in coding assistance. This is both to build my web portfolio and also to build my web design skills

I'm interested to hear the responses from THIS as I'm thinking a lot of you will disagree with me.
I gotta go back to sleep... Pink Floyd ftw!

out,
CJ

Not to blow the wind out of your sails but..
" I am not very good at html or any sort of programming..." If you're looking to do something social / user interactive be prepared to learn at the very least CSS, php, MySQL & java inside out. HTML is not going to get you there. You'll need a good understanding of databases and how they work.. All a pretty tall order IMHO...but good luck nonetheless anything is possible!

Rentham · #7 (**permalink**) 06-07-2011, 12:25 PM

Why would someone go through all that trouble to make something look and feel like... Facebook?

3bayjunkie · #8 (**permalink**) 06-07-2011, 01:28 PM

i kind of like programming things, i did a small shockwave racing game. it only had 800 lines of code, but it was fun to do. I don't want the social network to look anything like facebook actually. I just want it to be a social network for photographers. I have a lot of great Ideas for it, can't give them all up, but I will definately include you guys when it goes live.

I have another 7 or 8 months left in this dessert, so I'm going to figure this thing out

If you guys have ideas, like things that facebook and flickr etc don't offer you as far as sharing your photos, let me know. Ill try to work it in. Alright thanks again for your time and support.

CJ