Choosing What's Best For Me

Choosing how to create my portfolio is important because l want to have full creative freedom to create the portfolio website l want to have. To help me decide what would suit me best and what would give me the end result l took into account these factors:

• What my websites for
• Who are my audience 
• The flexibility and ownership l want to have with my portfolio

These were my main factors that would impact my decision. Previously l have built websites before using HTML and CSS on Adobe's Dreamweaver, however for this module l didn't think this was needed. The purpose of my website is to have a online portfolio which is heavily focused on video and picture content rather then information, and this is something a website builder has the peer to do while allowing me to have my creative freedom to design and adjust the pre-designed layouts. I also didn't want to code another website, as this is something l am doing in another module so wanted to do something differently. 

My intended audience is like minded individuals, industry professionals and creative employers that will be looking at my website, which is why l wanted to use a reliable website builder that would create a professional website to showcase my design work and hopefully get me more experience in the industry. Although, a secondary audience could be under-graduates or amateur media students who want to get in contact with me to learn more about being a media practitioner! 

Website Builders

There's loads of different website builders that are available to me, Wordpress and Wix being the main ones l was looking at. I've used both Wordpress and Wix before during work placements and in my own time so l am familiar with them. 

Wordpress allows you to have more control over creating your website, it allows you to create a online store, a membership based website and a lot more complex things that for this project l won't be using but for future reference it is a great site to use for this. Like Wix, Wordpress has a lot of pre-made templates you can follow and then edit to adjust them to the requirements for your website.  However because of the complexity of Wordpress it means that as a user, l would need to keep up to date with their plugins and website updates in order to make sure my website would work smoothly and this isn't something l wanted to do. Of course, l expect to make updates throughout the beginning stages of entering into the industry, but l didn't want to have to keep updating my knowledge of the hosting website. 

Wix, is something l am very familiar with and something i've used before for fun and for projects, so l was comfortable with their process. I looked at Wix and Wordpress' pre-made designs and found Wix had designs similar to my own, having designs that are on one page and using anchor points to seperate the panels of information. The only con l found with Wix is that sometimes with their free plans - what l am planning on using for now - sometimes they have Wix related ads come up on your website, which can take away from the professionalism of my site. 

However this is something l look past as l will be using their free package. 

I have never had a bad experience using Wix, so l will see how it goes creating my own website on there. Hopefully, my designs will look similar on Wix as they do on Photoshop!

Website Development: Digital Designs

The next step for me is to create a rough design of what l want my websites to look like using all three designs on my wireframes. As l am unsure of whether l want to code my website or use a website creator such as Wordpress or Wix, it is important for me to know how l want my websites to look so l can either code them exactly how l want or chose a template that replicates my ideas. 

(My websites have information and images/content that is temporary, it's just to see my overall layout of the website)

Design: Website #1

Design: Website #2

Design: Website #3

In conclusion, l love all of these designs and l think they all have elements of style, sophistication and creativity which is something l really want to portray on my own website. I love how the pink of some of the images combines with the colour scheme and makes it look cohesive, this is a element l didn't think of when selecting my images, but I'm glad they work well with the general house styles of my designs. 

Overall, l think that l would like to merge the designs of website 2 and 3 to create an overall style, because they share similar conventions and layout and are both clearly state what l do as a creator and show my work in a organised fashion. I think the panelling using lilac, grey and white is really effective and is visually appealing as it all ties in together. 

The only element l am unsure about is including images of myself. I am unsure because sometimes thi can cause discrimination and I'm not sure this is something l will use in my final design, l will experiment however and see what works best alongside some user testing to clarify my thoughts! 

Website Creation: Wireframes

For these initial wire frames, l decided that l wanted to follow the structure l had with my CV, and use the left hand side for the navigation bar and logo. I thought it would create a coherent appearance and work well with my CV and overall design.

Although this design coheres well with my CV, l don't think it has the energy and style l wanted in my website, but l will see when it comes to designing them in photoshop as when more content is added it may look more balanced. I think it currently looks more like a social media page rather then a portfolio.

Wireframe, Design #2

These next two designs follow the same technique as the Squashed Robot Films website does, by using paneling to split up the information. Although l have adjusted and rearranged the navigation bar and layout to see which design suits my brand most. 

Wireframes, Designs #3

These designs follow the same conventions as my second design. Very visually weighted, split up by panels, have a clear structure and visual hierarchy.

I like all of these designs and am excited to start experimenting using my own logos and branding to start to design my portfolio! All of these websites are designed simplistically and are content focused to ensure that my portfolio is visually appealing to my audience and can attract attention from potential employers.