Megan Messina
WRA210
September 10, 2012
Module 2: Chris Bell’s Portfolio
On Chris’s website I was drawn immediately to his navigation bar which demonstrates two CRAP principles of contrast and repetition. The entire navigation bar is set off from the rest of the page by the use of a lighter shade of brown, which contrasts from the darker colors used throughout. It is also very helpful because the reader immediately sees that he has a home, writer, editor, designer and resume page. This lets the reader know directly that Chris is a writer, editor and designer.
I like the colors on the portfolio in conjunction with his name at the top of the screen. He uses browns and sepia tones that give the feeling of an old, classic novel that has survived the ages. The elegant lettering of his name with the classic, professional typeface for “A Portfolio” is also reminiscent of a timeless novel. This would not fit on every website, however it works quite well with Chris’s descriptions as writer and editor.
The only area that I can area for improvement is the picture. You can only see from his nose down to his shoulders. Taking into consideration the CRAP principles I can see why the picture bothered me slightly. The alignment in the image is focused on the top center of the image only. To create an image that is visually appealing the image should help the eye see the alignment change somehow (e.g. bottom left, to center, to top right). You could fix this by using an image where your body is centered more to one side.
If I were to imitate one aspect of Chris’s portfolio it would the idea of clearly representing your skills and interests in your design. For instance through the use of brown and sepia colors the portfolio instantly tells the viewer that he is interested in writing. I would like to do something similar for my skill set and interests. If only I know what I was interested in!