What format is really the most effective for displaying your work, and why?

Points of contention that I generally consider are:

• Target audience
• Quantity of content
• Focal point
• Display of control over the medium

I constantly question whether or not I am making the right decisions, as anyone in the design world should. When I originally chose to work with flash rather than a blogroll style display, my thinking was to engage the user with not only my work and my preferred medium, but also to utilize an engine where I could best display my creative spirit. It didn’t seem to matter how much information you placed inside a Flash shell, as long as you weren’t running too much content that had to be preloaded. The drawback was that, in my case, you had to navigate through at least one level to view the work on display. Knowing this framework, I presumed the animation would have to be engaging enough to keep the user exploring and playing with the site.

I’d love to hear some other opinions on why certain portfolio layouts are preferred or thought of as more effective formats. Why did you choose the style of presentation that you did? What you find to be effective/ineffective? Or why do you love/hate what others have done?

I’m not your friend. Please stop addressing me as such. 

Thanks.

Cordially,

Drew C.

Here’s the unbiased part:

There’s a lot wrong with the country these days. We all know that. The problem I’m currently upset about is that the whole presidential race is focused on namecalling and on the background of the people running rather than what they are actually promising to do once they gain office. I don’t care how feisty Sarah Palin is, how old John McCain is, or how much experience Obama has. I care about what these people and their affiliates would do with the power to govern the country. The problem is, I see all these people around me who are eating up the crap television media is feeding them (both Democrat and Republican supporters alike).

I find it incredibly disturbing that the American population as a whole is so easily distracted from issues that actually matter and might actually elect someone based upon what kind of person they are, or how that person portrays themselves in front of the media. It happened in ’04 when Bush was elected because of his ‘lofty’ moral values; rather than what the man could prove on a political level. It pains me to see another campaign being currently run with the same distraction tactics as before. 

Now for the biased part:

Another problem I see is that McCain has a huge edge with the population that can’t think for themselves. I’m starting to associate flag-waving with pure stupidity. If you derived your opinion on current politics from the television media, please do some actual research before trying to speak to me about any current issue. Even previously trusted networks like CNN are focused on the latest slander ads and what witty middle-american remark Sarah Palin made that day. Does any of that matter as to what will happen within the white house next year? No. Not at all. I don’t care, get it off the tv. 

How are the candidates going to fix our nation’s dying infrastructure? It’s not aging, it’s dying. Let’s not kid ourselves, offices like the FAA have been run into the ground or far below it. A big part of the reason the economy is struggling is because trusted administrative offices have been allowed to squander away their power and money under the Bush administration. 

The republicans are now running ads talking about getting those liberals out of Washington. Wait, how long have they held the majority vote in Congress? Oh, that’s right, not long enough to cause any damage. They’re trying to clean up one of the largest political messes that’s even been spilled in our history. They think the solution is to become even more conservative to protect america? Oh, we need that protection. Look, another fear reference! Also, change? The republicans countered Obama’s message of fighting for change…with change as well!

Now here’s a fun little dictionary definition. Conservative. Under political connotations:

“Disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.” ( Not a joke, it’s the top definition:http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/conservative )

LIMIT CHANGE. I wonder if the Republican Party is lying again? And creating media buzz to distract the American population which is so easily distracted? Why is our population so prone to falling for bullshit? I feel incredibly blessed to actually be able to think and rationalize for myself, rather than let the media do it for me. 

So. How about we hear more about what the candidates have to say about:

Clean Energy
Economic Recovery Strategy
Healthcare Reform and Affordability
Foreign Affairs outside of Iraq (which are becoming much more pressing)
Educational Improvements
Upgrading National Infrastructure

and less of the he said/she said nonsense that no one will care about once we have a new president in office.

Think for yourselves. What do YOU want out of a new president? Who will be more likely to offer it to you? 

And please, I can’t stress this enough and no font size will ever be big enough:

VOTE.

• Chicago to NYC, Brooklyn specifically. Yes, it’s not quite the west coast. 

• Working for hanftraboy.com

• One amazing summer. New great friends and finally feeling like an adult. (Sort of).

• Neglecting my website, though that is about to change with the weather.

On to fantasy sports, just one of the many nerdy things that make up my lifeblood. With the downfall of my Yahoo! Public Leagues baseball team in the first round of the playoffs, (Which for those who don’t know, I generally run the show and this loss might as well be a rehash of the downfall of Roman rule) I am deeply distraught. I had to face last year’s Colorado Rockies, essentially a last place team that stormed it’s way to the playoffs behind a surging A-rod. Plus I lost Carlos Quentin, which I’m sure doomed plenty of playoff teams including the real life White Sox. I’m still in it in my ESPN league, with the good old lucky name of Clover and Blood, though barely still hanging on. At least the Cubs haven’t totally blown it yet this year, which is the biggest relief. 

However with the failures of the Baseball playoff season, come the glories of fantasy football season! A whole new time of year, before I become frustrated with the injuries of top picks and overall underachievement of my middle rounders. I’m proud to say I’ve logged another week 1 victory over my best friend and chief rival. You can view the progress of myself and The Kyle Orton Experience here: When All Else Fails.

This isn’t necessarily a sports blog. This is just a sports post. Next time I’ll write about something else and finally touch base with some design talk, I promise.

The newest format of the site includes several upgrades from the previous version.  One of my main focuses in this renovation was to present information in a way that was easy for the user to access, as well as to provide multiple ways to navigate and view content.  The first section of the site reflects this.  It is a brief statement about the site and my design ideology, followed by an interactive resume.  This resume was designed as an overview; the full professional resume is then made accessible as a .pdf.

The portfolio section of the website is the central focus of the site.  This also is why it holds the center point in the global site navigation.  The portfolio content is divided into areas of similar media, with more project information available for full websites in the case studies section.  I also wanted to design this navigation system to be easily expandable as my portfolio continues to grow, which can be achieved by reducing size of the projects nodes when the real estate runs low.  Bright, alluring colors encourage user interaction throughout the navigation, while all illustration is black and white when static.  These illustrations recede into the background, allowing the focus of the page to become the work itself.

The final section is for links to pages outside of my site, this blog included.  I wanted to utilize the same overall design methodology as the rest of the site, but incorporate a third unique look within this thinking.  Looking through the site, you will notice that lions are the focus of my illustrative work.  These lions represent several things for me.  They are drawn as the pair that guard the Art Institute of Chicago, a tribute to the city where I was raised.  It will always be one of my favorite places in the world and seeing them makes me feel like I am home.  This is why I chose them for my homepage and why they are always seen in pairs.

The two lions also serve as a metaphor for traits that I work to uphold in my daily life.  These traits are loyalty and pride, both commonly associated with lions throughout the ages (though arguably not so much in scientific terms).  I strive to be as loyal as possible to those close to me, holding these relationships as the basis for my strength in life.  I also take great pride in what I do and where I am from; not wanting to forget the past, but use it to improve the future.

It would seem that everyone has their own preferred format for a portfolio, so I wanted mine to be representative of my personality.  Hopefully this has provided some background and insight into why the site is what it is.  And as this design is never final – critique and feedback are always appreciated.  Hopefully some of you out there will see things I have missed!