Hey Deep! I’m not an architect, but I’m a marketer and know basic stuff about websites (very basic). Maybe I can help.
What I like: the color palette, the red dot/period at the end of the H1s and the H2s. I just love the aesthetic overall. Your work is also awesome.
Some notes:
Responsiveness
The website isn’t responsive; add some media queries when you can. The issue wasn’t so concerning when it came to the body, but the nav bar was cut off at about 700-800px. Even when my browser was full width, the menu was still cut off.
Be sure to constantly test responsiveness by changing the width of your browser. Also take a look at it in different browsers--Firefox, Safari, etc.
Font
I would balance out the heavyweight font with a plainer font. The font is rather distinctive, so it gets a little overwhelming. I really like it, but I think it’d be best only for your H1s.
The kerning is also a little close on your menu items. In CSS I believe this is called letter-spacing. Add a little more space there, or replace the font.
Loading time
This is a huge one. The site took rather long to load. Because of the slow loading times, I had a rather clunky user experience. I believe this is a result of the large image files you’ve got on the site. Compress your photos, and also remove graphics that are only decorative (unless you designed them. In that case, keep them to show your work).
Put your URL into Google’s PageSpeed Insights. That tool will give some useful tips.
Design
Overall I like it! I’m not sure how I feel about the dots on the right side—I never really used them to keep track of my position on the page, or navigate between different sections. It seemed to be more decorative than functional.
In all pages, I’d add more white space to give a break to the eye. There are a lot of moving graphics and pictures close together. Since your work is so great, I think they each deserve enough space to shine.
On the portfolio pages (Arch, photography, brand), I’d include a gallery grid so that employers and schools can quickly scan over the work you’ve done. Upon seeing something that interests them, they can click and look at one item with more detail.
I think the gallery would also help with user flow. It’s difficult to navigate the page when everything is at 100% width. It’s also difficult to assign importance. Which one of these projects best represents you as a designer / photographer? I would highlight that one for sure.
Portfolios and content
The arch portfolio was AWESOME. I’d only add more white space. I’m also unsure of the purpose of gating content—it seems like that’d keep schools and employers from gauging your design skills.
The photo portfolio was also great in terms of content. But this was where I started to get a little confused. Whereas the arch portfolio didn’t let you click through to many of the items (not just the gated ones. There were some that didn’t lead to any other page), the photo portfolio was a collection of smaller collections.
In that case, I’d be a little more consistent. If each photography project has its own page, then so should the arch ones.
The brand page was my least fave because none of them showed your work. It’s difficult to tell to what capacity you worked with these brands and what tasks you completed. Consider writing a small summary for each, and including pictures of the work you completed for them.
UX / user flow
Aside from page speed, I think this is where the site could use the most improvement. The menu items—Home, A State of Architecture, A State of […]—I understood that under each of those items would be examples of your work, but I still had doubts. For example, “A State of Architecture” could take me to a page with a well-written essay about architecture.
I’d condense those under a menu item called “Portfolio,” and design that as you like. You could have different headings for each piece, or have a separate page for each.
Concept and domain
I LOVE the concept. “A state of _____”: it’s so good. My suggestion: I actually think it’d be best if you separated A State of Deep into a separate project, turn into more of an experiential site—in itself it would be a piece of your design work, rather than the place where you store your portfolio.
To employers / schools, you’d submit a site under your own name, deepshah.com. I think a plain domain like that will give a more professional impression.
That site would have simple menu items: About, Portfolio, Resume, Contact. Under Portfolio you could include a link to A State of Deep.
This last one is only a suggestion as A State of Deep could be your future business name. For example, I could very much imagine a digital design firm called A State of Deep. Up to you!
That’s it--thanks for reading this essay and hope it helps. Good luck and well wishes!
I'm assuming you created a portfolio website to either help you get a job or advertise yourself for creative services. It looks like you've put a lot of effort into the creative aspect of the site but it is very frustrating to use from a hiring manager/client's perspective. Your menu and navigation need some work to help direct visitors to the content they are looking for. The menu was very confusing for me and I had to always hit the back button to get to your other content that wasn't photography. Though your project names might be very obvious to you, I have no idea what they mean and there is no way for me to know what is architecture vs photography etc. There is also no clear way for me to find out more information about you and your background, giving me no context to your work. This needs to be clearer for your website to be more effective. Evaluate the purpose of the site and revise it so it is most effective to achieve it's goal.
Website/Portfolio Review
Hey everyone. Hope you all are safe and doing well.
I was wondering what do you guys think of the website i have put together.
Would love to get some feedback and comments in terms of content, graphic design approach and flow.
here's the link -
https://www.stateofdeep.com/
Cheers
i like it
@leonizer Thanks.
Hey Deep! I’m not an architect, but I’m a marketer and know basic stuff about websites (very basic). Maybe I can help.
What I like: the color palette, the red dot/period at the end of the H1s and the H2s. I just love the aesthetic overall. Your work is also awesome.
Some notes:
Responsiveness
The website isn’t responsive; add some media queries when you can. The issue wasn’t so concerning when it came to the body, but the nav bar was cut off at about 700-800px. Even when my browser was full width, the menu was still cut off.
Be sure to constantly test responsiveness by changing the width of your browser. Also take a look at it in different browsers--Firefox, Safari, etc.
Font
I would balance out the heavyweight font with a plainer font. The font is rather distinctive, so it gets a little overwhelming. I really like it, but I think it’d be best only for your H1s.
The kerning is also a little close on your menu items. In CSS I believe this is called letter-spacing. Add a little more space there, or replace the font.
Loading time
This is a huge one. The site took rather long to load. Because of the slow loading times, I had a rather clunky user experience. I believe this is a result of the large image files you’ve got on the site. Compress your photos, and also remove graphics that are only decorative (unless you designed them. In that case, keep them to show your work).
Put your URL into Google’s PageSpeed Insights. That tool will give some useful tips.
Design
Overall I like it! I’m not sure how I feel about the dots on the right side—I never really used them to keep track of my position on the page, or navigate between different sections. It seemed to be more decorative than functional.
In all pages, I’d add more white space to give a break to the eye. There are a lot of moving graphics and pictures close together. Since your work is so great, I think they each deserve enough space to shine.
On the portfolio pages (Arch, photography, brand), I’d include a gallery grid so that employers and schools can quickly scan over the work you’ve done. Upon seeing something that interests them, they can click and look at one item with more detail.
I think the gallery would also help with user flow. It’s difficult to navigate the page when everything is at 100% width. It’s also difficult to assign importance. Which one of these projects best represents you as a designer / photographer? I would highlight that one for sure.
Portfolios and content
The arch portfolio was AWESOME. I’d only add more white space. I’m also unsure of the purpose of gating content—it seems like that’d keep schools and employers from gauging your design skills.
The photo portfolio was also great in terms of content. But this was where I started to get a little confused. Whereas the arch portfolio didn’t let you click through to many of the items (not just the gated ones. There were some that didn’t lead to any other page), the photo portfolio was a collection of smaller collections.
In that case, I’d be a little more consistent. If each photography project has its own page, then so should the arch ones.
The brand page was my least fave because none of them showed your work. It’s difficult to tell to what capacity you worked with these brands and what tasks you completed. Consider writing a small summary for each, and including pictures of the work you completed for them.
UX / user flow
Aside from page speed, I think this is where the site could use the most improvement. The menu items—Home, A State of Architecture, A State of […]—I understood that under each of those items would be examples of your work, but I still had doubts. For example, “A State of Architecture” could take me to a page with a well-written essay about architecture.
I’d condense those under a menu item called “Portfolio,” and design that as you like. You could have different headings for each piece, or have a separate page for each.
Concept and domain
I LOVE the concept. “A state of _____”: it’s so good. My suggestion: I actually think it’d be best if you separated A State of Deep into a separate project, turn into more of an experiential site—in itself it would be a piece of your design work, rather than the place where you store your portfolio.
To employers / schools, you’d submit a site under your own name, deepshah.com. I think a plain domain like that will give a more professional impression.
That site would have simple menu items: About, Portfolio, Resume, Contact. Under Portfolio you could include a link to A State of Deep.
This last one is only a suggestion as A State of Deep could be your future business name. For example, I could very much imagine a digital design firm called A State of Deep. Up to you!
That’s it--thanks for reading this essay and hope it helps. Good luck and well wishes!
I'm assuming you created a portfolio website to either help you get a job or advertise yourself for creative services. It looks like you've put a lot of effort into the creative aspect of the site but it is very frustrating to use from a hiring manager/client's perspective. Your menu and navigation need some work to help direct visitors to the content they are looking for. The menu was very confusing for me and I had to always hit the back button to get to your other content that wasn't photography. Though your project names might be very obvious to you, I have no idea what they mean and there is no way for me to know what is architecture vs photography etc. There is also no clear way for me to find out more information about you and your background, giving me no context to your work. This needs to be clearer for your website to be more effective. Evaluate the purpose of the site and revise it so it is most effective to achieve it's goal.
Otherwise, great work.
I can't reach this site :/
That's really a good site...
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