advice please

[edd1eg]

hi there, i need some advice here, i have just achieved my degree in web design and i have applied for a web designers job and they are looking for a "hard copy of a portfolio", as i have just completed my degree i have only build one website, and that was through my university, what should i send to the company?. I have already sent them a Curriculum Vitae, which i have my url on, but this is not enough, i dont want to contact the company asking them what they want, as this would be pretty dumb, thanks for anyone that could help me out.

thanks

edd

 

[Wullie]

Hi mate,

This might not be what you want to hear but you need to make more sites so that your portfolio is useful to a potential employer.

If you are just starting out, think of a few subjects that you know quite a bit about and make up some sites around that subject, they don't have to be actual companies.

Hope this helps

Wullie

http://www.necomputers.org.uk

http://www.freshlookdesign.co.uk

http://www.freshlookdesign.com

http://www.whiland.co.uk

The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change.
The leader adjusts the sails. - John Maxwell

 

[edd1eg]

i made this site through my university:

http://www.irvineceltic.com

and this through my personal interest:

http://www31.brinkster.com/henriklarsson/

what do they mean by a hard copy?, does this mean they want each website copied onto CD, and do they need paperwork of some sort?. thanks very much for your help wullie.

edd

 

[Genimuse]

By "hard copy" they mean printed pages of the sites, the way a graphic designer or illustrator would show off his/her work.

Another great way to have more sample sites is to volunteer to provide sites for charities, or to re-do sites for charities. It's good for your portfolio and good for the world.

Local charities work best because larger national charities usually already have professional designs.

 

[Wullie]

Hi mate,

Lets say that I was the potential employer. You send me the above links and the following is what I would think.

2 sites, both looking good but the problem is that they are very similar, both in appearance and subject. I can see that you can make Celtic sites, but what about different subjects?

Also, I look at the second site and see a free server, that doesn't portray a profession image.

For the hard copy, just print a few different looking pages off. (The best ones) and sent them those.

Hope this helps

Wullie

http://www.necomputers.org.uk

http://www.freshlookdesign.co.uk

http://www.freshlookdesign.com

http://www.whiland.co.uk

The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change.
The leader adjusts the sails. - John Maxwell

 

[edd1eg]

thanks for your quick response on this, at this site:

http://www.irvineceltic.com,

i have around 17 pages in all, would i have to print every single page?, and would i list a description of each page?, thanks very much again for your help.


edd

 

[Genimuse]

You would only print 1-3 representative pages for each site, generally speaking. If every page is nearly identical then you'd just print one. If you had some interior pages that were particularly of note then you'd print one or two of those.

Looking at your site I can see printing the home page and a couple of interiors -- whatever you think is the most appealing or that shows your capabilities. For example your merchandise page shows that you have created forms in a live site, so perhaps that page.

Unfortunately your use of frames makes it (a) very difficult to see much information at once (very frustrating for me, since I don't need all of the outside "chrome" all the time), and (b) will make it tough for the printouts you create to really show much.

 

[edd1eg]

what do you mean by (a), and how do you go printing your pages out for the best quality?, thanks


edd

 

[Genimuse]

What I mean by it being very difficult to see much information at once is that the site is (a) of a predefined height, so that no matter how large my monitor is or how much I expand my window I still can't see more of the page, and (b) that of the 545 pixels of height I am allowed, I'm still looking at the material through a 340-pixel tall "hole" in the page.

As a result when I'm browsing the merchandise I can only see 3 things at once and need to rely on my memory all the time (or lots of scrolling) to see what else is available. When I'm filling out the form I can only see a portion of what information you'll be asking for. When I'm looking at the facilities page I can't read the text and see the picture at the same time. When I'm looking at the diary I can see 10 out of the 12 months in the year.

All of this feels very "tight," as though I'm cramped into a little box. The biggest reason is that 38% of my vertical screen is eaten up by the header and the very tall footer, and no matter how much I resize my window I'm still limited to that space.

Don't misunderstand me: it's a very attractive design overall. It's just unpleasant when I'm trying to actually read it. Look at a page like the one you're reading now: Tek-Tips has a constant 285 pixels of header information and a huge 860 pixels of footer information, only a small portion of which changes on each page. While that's a lot, that big header and big footer completely go away when I scroll up and down, and the entire height of my window (the most limited direction on a computer screen) is filled with the information I'm trying to access.

Again, your sense of style is great. It's the feeling of "freedom" and comfortable reading that are missing. For a fan site it's not a big deal, but it wouldn't do well in a professional site. All in my opinion, of course.

There's no secret to printing your sample pages. It's just that the bottom half of each page will be a big green blank area because of the design. If a person wanted to print, say, the merchandise page to show to a friend he'd have to print it 5 times (scrolling down between each) in order to have all of the merchandise on paper, with 69% of the vertical space on each page completely wasted. As a result your examples won't really show all of the work you've done.

 

[ChrisHunt]

I've never applied for a job as a web designer, nor have I ever employed one, but why let total ignorance get in the way of an answer...

I take it you're talking about applying for a job at a web design company, rather than applying to design a site for somebody. My guess is that the company is expecting a lot of applicants for this post. Sombody is going to have to work through a big stack of CVs (That's Resumes, American readers!) and decide which people they want to interview. Having a hard copy of your portfolio allows this to be considered as part of this process, without having to muck about typing in URLs. Basically a bad portfolio will get you rejected straight away, a good one will get them to visit the site before they decide.

If I was producing such a portfolio, I wouldn't just print out pages using File>Print on the browser. I'd use [Print Screen] and a graphics program to produce screen shots of what the page actually looks like in a browser (complete with the browser toolbars etc.) - maybe use a couple of different browsers to show you're not an IE only guy - storing each screen shot in an image file. Then paste these screen shots into a Word document, add some descriptive text discussing the design of the site, technologies used, etc. Like Genimuse says, pick out a few key pages rather than doing all of them.

I think you may struggle without a bigger portfolio. Like Wullie says, branch out a bit! It may be hard to believe, but there's more to life than Celtic FC! Produce some other sites that reflect other interests, building a site for a non-profit organisation would be another way to learn. Why not build a web design site that features web site templates? That way you can have dozens of sites to show a potential employer. Make each site as different as possible to show the diversity of your skillset. Incidentally, I'd be less worried about whether sites are free or not since you're looking for employment on somebody's staff, rather than a freelance designer looking for contracts - you don't need to appear "professional" just proficient!

-- Chris Hunt
Extra Connections Ltd

http://www.extracon.com

The real world's OK for a visit, but you wouldn't want to LIVE there!

 

[edd1eg]

thanks for your reply, Yes i am applying for a job in a web design company. I have made printed out 4 pages of my website now, and i did i the way you says, "print screen", and then i took it into photoshop 7, then i cropped it, getting RID of the browser toolbars etc, this then fits neatly onto A4 piece of paper. Do you think i should also paste each screenshot into a word program and discuss the page a little, along with the other 4 prints i did in photoshop, or should i leave it as it is?. Also what other information should i have along with my screenshots?, just another thing should i do print screens of the other website i did

http://www31.brinkster.com/henriklarsson/,

or should i leave this as it is free web space with an unappropriate domain name.

thanks for all your help

edd

 

[ChrisHunt]

I'd print 'em both - why exclude half of your portfolio? A free web space URL would look really naff if you were bidding to design somebody's site, but I don't think it matters if you're just demonstrating your skills to a potential employer.

Leaving the browser toolbars on is just a personal preference, don't lose any sleep over it.

Good luck!

-- Chris Hunt
Extra Connections Ltd

http://www.extracon.com

The real world's OK for a visit, but you wouldn't want to LIVE there!

 

[edd1eg]

thanks for all your responses, you have helped me a lot with this. Just another thing, i have printed out 4 pages from one of the websites, should i talk about each and individual page?, or just about the website in whole?, also would you put this in front of the printed pages or after them?, i know these sound like stupid questions, but i want to make a really good impression on the company, thanks for all your help.


edd

 

[edd1eg]

nearly finished by portfolio now, thanks to all your help, just a few more things i need to sort out before i sent the company my portfolio today.

1. Should i have an introduction about myself?, if so where should i put this in my portfolio, for example front, back.

2. Should i describe each website?

3. If yes to the 2nd question. should i describe all the websites at the front of the portfolio or, describe each website, at the start of their prints?

thanks for your help

edd

 

[ChrisHunt]

My opinion would be:

1) No. This is intended to accompany your CV, so you don't need to duplicate information about yourself. Just put your name on it in case the documents become seperated.

2) Yes, a little: Title of the site, Client , URL, design brief (no more than a paragraph), technologies used. Don't go overboard on description.

3) I suggest you put the descriptive text on the site's first page, rather than on a content page. Make each site's pages a self-contained Word document - if you go for jobs in the future, you can select a few sites from your burgeoning portfolio that suit what they're looking for, add a cover page that says "to view my full portfolio visit the online version at..." and send it off.

If you go to interview, be prepared to answer questions on your site designs - what you did, how you did it, why you chose one technology over another.

-- Chris Hunt
Extra Connections Ltd

http://www.extracon.com

The real world's OK for a visit, but you wouldn't want to LIVE there!

 

[edd1eg]

i'm not too sure what to say in my design brief, could you give me a few pointers on this.

thanks again for your reply

edd

 

[ChrisHunt]

What's the site about? Who's it for? How should it look and feel? What (if any) special features should it have (e.g. discussion forums, news feeds, search facilities, flash, etc.). Imagine you wanted someone else to build the site in question - and you only have a paragraph to ask for what you want. Here's one of my sites as an example:

http://www.mcgonagall-online.org.uk

Brief: Showcase the writings of the worst poet in the world. Visual appearance should reflect the Victorian period in which he lived.

That brief goes to the core of what the site was about, though it doesn't begin to describe its features (I'd highlight those by annotating key parts of the screenshot). I mention the Victorian design constraint in the brief because the site is deliberately designed to look "old-fashioned", I want to stress there's a good reason for this.

-- Chris Hunt
Extra Connections Ltd

http://www.extracon.com

The real world's OK for a visit, but you wouldn't want to LIVE there!

 

[edd1eg]

thanks for all the replys, you have been all a great help on building my portfolio, especially you chris.

i actually build another quick site about what work i have done, need to add another some more content, before the company recieve my portfolio tomorrow, let me know what you think, and give me advice on anything i should change, here is the url:

http://www31.brinkster.com/edwardgillan/

thanks again

edd