This site has been a work in progress for quite a bit now. With a number of layout changes, color schemes, tweaks and adjustments, it has been a tough but rewarding experience. One of the greatest challenges I found while creating the site is the minimalistic theme and process. It’s not the way I’ve normally created or designed in the past, yet after looking at many different portfolio sites and examples, the ones I seemed to keep coming back to were simple and elegant, putting an emphasis on the work and content of the site. I quickly became obsessed with this idea and wanted to master it. What I’ve noticed is with a minimal design, every layout and color choice becomes incredibly important, maybe even more so than with a more complex layout. Every item, and color must have a meaning, and an impact. The smallest tweaks and adjustments can change the entire demeanor of the site, how users experience it, and if it is likable and accepted.

I drew inspiration from two differnt types of designs, those of geometric, shape based designs, and those that werew a bit more graphic, with a painted look, depth of layers, and a organic feel.

The overall feel I wanted to convey was a very airy, open, endless design. It would make you feel comfortable and want to explore and scroll through the site. In the beginning of what I would choose as my final layout, I wanted to find a balance between white, greys, blues, and reds. Not a , patriotic theme (not that there’s something wrong with that), but more an elegance, with rich reds and subdued blues. Upon  feedback I found that many people found the blue headers “Web and “Graphic” too contrasting with the site logo, which is prominent and bold. It was also pointed out that the elegant typface for these headers was too different from the bold slate look in the logo. Back to the drawing board I went, I first messed around with the idea of red for the headers, I used about 10 different hex codes but it just seemed like too much red on the page, which was taking alot of attention away from the featured thumbnails, which was the exact opposite of what I had set out to do. I then began trying different greys, and found one that seemed to fit nicely. Next was fonts for these headers. Originally I had used Fertigo, which I really like. However it really didn’t fit the bold, boxish look that was going on. I first opted for a much simpler font, Calluna. I kind of liked it, and I kind of didn’t. In the end I felt like it didn’t command enough attention, it became lost in the sans serif mess of things. I then went for Adelle, after considering the slab serif type that was used in the logo. I instantly loved it, and after a bit of fidgeting  called it good (for now).

I also took a picture mid process one day with my cell phone, it’s probably not the greatest quality ever but I couldn’t let it go to waste I found it a bit funny.