Personal Branding Project | WIP

Business Card

I think the front is too text heavy, and it doesn't quickly communicate the information you want it to. I found myself looking at it for a second, then not bothering to read the text because it just looked like a lot to read. I understand what you were trying to do to make it easier to get the information out by changing colors of words, however with how many words are changed there is no concept of which is most important.

I would probably not be very likely to keep this business card, given the front of it, because I can imagine that even if I was looking for someone in your line of work to do something, that I would probably go right past your card, as I wouldn't be able to see its purpose easily. I would determine what is most important and emphasize that more than just keeping it in a paragraph. At the moment it seems less like you are more telling everything about you then giving critical information that would need to be referenced with a business card.

As for the back of the card, I think it is much simpler, and does give the info it needs, so I don't really have any issues I can think of off the top of my head for that.


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Website:

Just going off your recommendation, I am going to give the things that I remember off of the site, though I wrote the business card section since I saw it so I may have a slightly fuzzier memory of it.

1. I remember the central image, as it is a very graphical image, different in color, and contrasting with the otherwise text heavy site.

2. I remember the different sectioned text areas surrounding the image.

3. I remember that quote that I have always liked since you made the wallpaper with it on, Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication, as it both was a quote I knew, and was set in an area where the fact of its being text contrasted with the whitespace around it.

4. (these are getting into things I remember less) I remember that at the top left there is Miraj (Patel?), and at the top right is the navigation type stuff, with colored bars indicating categories.

5. I noticed your choice of colours, fonts, etc.

OK now I will look at it and tell you what I think while actually looking at it;

For the daily update section, is that properly aligned to the Graphic design and web design categories? I think it is a little bit down from them but I can't be certain just from looking at it.

The color of reddish purple you used for "Blog Entries" and the read more in that section feels to reminiscent to me of the default clicked link colour, and I'm not sure that is really the effect you want, but idk.

The colors are well done I think, and you handled the text pretty well, even though there is a lot of text, it doesn't feel overwhelming, and the image provides good relief from the text.

I think the use of whitespace was quite well done; the main content area was broken up enough that the text didn't overwhelm, and then in the other content areas, the whitespace nicely contrasted with the text.

I like the repetition of the colors, especially the yellow, as it was the most used one, and was well used.

I think it is pretty good overall though.

 

So because you want this to be professional, I showed the design for the website I my mom( who is an advertising consultant). She said that you need to make the links and titles bigger an bolder. You want people to be able to navigate the site easily and quickly. The massive wall of text will most likely be overlooked as well by somebody who is simply looking for a service quickly. Take your own advice. Simplicity.

 

She had a lil trouble with the filler text. I had I explain to her what it was but when I get home I'll ask here specifically about the navigation and get her opinion on that specifically.

 

Yeah the actual web page is a better idea because you can just update the page only.

 

For the card, it would probably be a better way to go by putting your critical information on the front side instead of the back. If someone is flipping through a bunch of cards and sees a paragraph, they're likely going to skip it. You need to approach a business card like a resume; everything anyone needs to know about you that is relevant to what they want should be on the first page, secondary information on the second, and anything else on the remainder of the second or a third page. If you make the front of the card eye-catching, but not too gaudy or bogged down, then you would probably get more attention.

As for the website, everything looks pretty much in it's place except for the links in the top-right corner. If I were to make that site I would put all those in drop-down menus under the main header, with bigger text. Again, if it's crucial information, you want people to be able to find it quickly and easily. In it's current form, it could be easily over-looked.

Also, the colour scheme is nice and simple, but it seems a little empty at the moment. I'm not saying clutter it up with tonnes of ads or superfluous images, but maybe just a little something in the background to break it up a wee bit.

 

Here's my two cents on the matter.

First, the business card. In all honesty, I can't say I would keep it simply because it is too heavy on text. The color emphasis works the first time, then it just looks commonplace. Now, I thought of a principle we all know here, which is the focal. To me it seems like the focal is your portrait, and not the information. Try to keep the color emphasis on maybe two lines of text that convey your info quickly and precisely, and maybe accentuate it with some bars at the top and bottom. This is so whoever has it knows who you are and will remember it easily. It's all about keeping it simple, eye-catching and professional.

Might seem a bit abstract, but there's my take.

The website is very eye-pleasing, easy on the eye and not too complicated. I do have a certain confusion with the placement of the small links, since I saw them at the top and at the bottom. The best websites I have seen include minimal use of links in the main page, rather, they are distributed within the main menus for easy access and navigation.

Everything else looks really good, the website flows really well. Again, though, you might want to keep very short lines of text in the main page, and have your portfolio and infornation take center stage, since that is the whole point of it.

Did any of this help? It might seem too nitpicky, but it's how I see it. Take a look at websites like Apple or Audi, the simplicity makes their websites so easy to navigate and understand, which I think is crucial to their successes as companies. Hope this helped.

 

When people open the page they have about one second invested depending on Internet speed and will hit back immediately if they can't immediately find something to click on that will appear to get them closer to what they want. Get that first click and someone is significantly more likely to search through the site.

I'm going to be brutally honest about how I feel here. The business card to me looks more like a sandwich card of the buy seven get one free variety. The colors remind me of puke, poop, and a debydrated person's piss and blood. The face creeps me out enough that I would likely crumple it while stuffing it in my pocket and dispose of it in the nearest receptacle. The quote gives me the impression that you're going to screw up a few times before making something good and for that I would go find someone else.

I know this is harsh but I'm guessing you'd rather hear this from me than not hear from a potential client.

 

From a webdev point of view, your website is a textbook example of what not to do with a grid layout. Go back to the drawing board and rethink your content hierarchy, because it's a navigational nightmare. Remove superfluous items and fit them into other areas if need be.

Your typography work is fine, a bit trendy for my liking but it certainly gets the job done and looks professional. Bolder header menu items isn't always the answer so take the layman's opinion with a dash of salt. Work with your original concept for the header as it does look quite good, just add adjustable type sizes for the sight-impaired.

Keep up the good work, don't be afraid to add a little more zazz with nested CSS backgrounds of doodles or whatever as it is your space to show off.

 

Who're you callin' a layman?

 

Seeing as your a graphic designer I reckon you should try out splicing (if you havnt already heard of it link.

If not then I think for the front page of your website you should have a small amount of to-the-point informative text followed by a collage of your work.