For our first task in our final project we have to research and analyse a range of portfolio websites. They are to be for anyone in the creative field including web designers, graphic designers, illustrators and photographers.

There are some really amazing portfolio sites, but after looking for a while I found some of them a bit over the top and quite irritating, either because of load times or they were just too complicated. It was quite hard to find really clean, simple minimal designs that remained interesting.

Charlie Gentle a web designer, is one of those. He has a very simple, stylish site. He implements perfect jQuery style, I really like the way the information glides to the left as you click on the navigation. He uses nice sketch elements and illuminated centered content. The background is a lovely subtle textured blue, with really clear contemporary typography.  The information about Charlie is friendly, clear and includes a blog.

Thibaud’s portfolio uses color swatches as interactive elements, which not only hints at the nature of his work but also effectively showcases his skill, experience and creativity in interactive design. This site is really slick.

   This site uses a really lovely background, and slides horizontally. The site is very simple, but all the information is there about each project if you want it. The home page is probably more interesting than anything else though. It is not easy to get back to the home page and the contact button is not very prominent.

This site is intriguing in the same way a dolls house is, looking into each room. It looks like it may be over complicated but is very well organised and easy to use.

  I really like the simplicity of this site. There is a very clear contact button, with only three buttons for the side navigation. The portfolio page is really simple using black and white shots of each project that turn to colour on rollover. If you click on the piece of work you are interested in there is a large slimbox version that opens.

Julian Andrade is a film director. His site is really simple and easy to navigate. There is only one place to enter the site. This takes you to a gallery page where stills from the work are arranged in a colourful block. On rollover a coloured block tells you who the job was done for and what the involvement was. When you click on a particular job a page opens which shows still images from the film and a video where you can view the action. Each page is layed out in the same way to keep fresh and ordered. There is a group of out-take pictures under the actual used shots, which give a human touch to what could be a daunting prospect for some, working with a film director! Under this is a line of photographs showing work he has done in a related style.

This photographers site has a simple slider which has a clear and easy to use set of thumb nails underneath the main picture. A simple click on any one will enlarge as the main slider picture. There is only one page to the sight which shows a large range of photograph styles and then underneath the three main price packages that are on offer. All very straightforward. Your decision and site experience is very simple and stylish. 

I really like this photographers site which is layed out like a pile of photographs. As you click on one it comes to the top of the pile, becomes sharp or colour if a colour shot, you can then move the picture into a different position to put other pictures into view as you would with a real pile of photographs. If you double click on the picture of your choice, it flips giving model details etc. on the back.  

I really like the site below. The background colour and sunny feel are lovely and simple. All the icons move out as you hover over. The typeface is clean and elegant.