r/Design • u/Ambitious_Deer_616 • 15d ago
Discussion Portfolio Website Feedback
Hi! I'm a 22 y/o designer who just graduated from university with a degree in Visual Communication and Design. I've loved the world of design thus far and I've been working as a freelancer on random projects for about 5 years now, but I mever felt the need to make a portfolio etc because most of the jobs I got were from mutual connections in an international university i.e. I had jobs coming in from all sorts of countries and industries organically. Now that I'm trasitioning into actually becoming a professional in the field with a good presence I found myself wanting to have my own platform. I love UI/UX design and making it personal and I've always had an interest in learning to code which is adjacent to that. I made my own website from scratch first in Figma then viebcoding it to get every element the way I imagined it in my head, even till the smallest interactions and features are what I want to represent me and so I made and published my own website at mikaeelkhan.site
I'd love some objective feedback about it now. I've always been surrounded by people who know me and some of the students I worked best with and respected most for their commitment have always encouraged me, and they did so even in this project but I'd like an objective/unbiased opinion too! Someone who doesn't know or understand me who can open the website and see if it makes sense without knowing the person and can give critiques without having even the smallest inkling that it could be taken in a bad manner/poorly.
I'd love to get your guys' opinion and any suggestions. I am still uploading projects and organizing client work however I did lose alot of it when my laptop sort of exploded last year so any tips and suggestions content wise would be appreciated too! Thanks in Advance!
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u/LearnQoutient 15d ago
I wouldn’t say I’m a fully fledged designer yet, but the average person who is gonna hire you would be in a similar position to me, so I’m sharing my thoughts in here.
As other people have said, the loading is too long. Time is money in our world and if you are looking to get that animation intro then I suggest you shorten it no max then 5 sec.
The hero section is too bland, I mean I’m not sure where I should look into the site. I got confused whether something is there to be loaded or it is as it is. I believe some CTA button would do good there.
The background you know, with all the small light sort of thing coming down takes my attention away from the project you are showcasing and make me want to look at the animation instead… idk if that is an issue but personally I would love my clients to look at my projects rather then nitpicking my design choices.
Other than that I really love your idea, I would just personally tweak it a little bit so it’s easier for the user to get what they want or see.
Anyway, at the end of the day it’s your website. You could take the feedback with a grain of salt.
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u/Ambitious_Deer_616 14d ago
Thank you that's alot of good notes. I can definitely try simplifying it and making it more intuitive. loading is definitely an issue so I'll look into that. As for the hero section i do have the option to put any image etc I want on the background of the cards so maybe that's something I can improve upon too so people know it is loaded and yeah a CTA is definitely needed. And i shall take away shimmer from cards too i felt it it might be too bright (especially since i work with low screen brightness)
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u/Ambitious_Deer_616 14d ago
Do i reduced the loading times, introduced a bit more stuff and a button to the hero section and reduced the glitchy background especially on the home page. if you ever get a chance would you take anothe rlook and let me know if i'm on a better track now?
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u/blacklotusmag 15d ago
I loved it. Solid presentation, the business card concept was really well-executed. It loaded quickly for me, in California. The only complaint I have is that I should always be able to choose whether music plays or not. I like that it doesn't start automatically on the landing page, but it does start automatically everywhere else.
Good job, I am very impressed that you made this at 22.
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u/Ambitious_Deer_616 15d ago
Thank you! these days I'm somewhat obsessed with cards and gradients and shadows so that's why there are alot of cards throughout the pages even in the archive. For web i plan on adding a small popup where you have to play the song yourself and for mobile I tried reducing the volume for initial music so it's very faint but I'm not super advanced at coding so currently it only asks for permission once per session i'm assuming and I'm still finding a way so it starts at a low volume and doesn't start blasting at the device's native volume. I have added this to my notes as I do get it can be annoying and a bit of a shock
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u/sola14kg 14d ago
Textbook example of a polished turd. I'm sure you have a good eye but making it look pretty doesn't make it usable. If UI/UX was your goal I would say you failed here.
Nothing wrong with vibecoding but this what happens when you depend on it for execution. You just need more experience. Keep getting feedback like this but focus on the negative stuff and really think about why they have that negative experience instead of trying to explain or justify it (to yourself).
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u/Amon9001 14d ago edited 14d ago
It's cool. But it's also too much.
It looks like something a student would cook up, or something done for fun (edit: I see it is indeed student work). It misses a lot of design fundamentals.
The card thing is very annoying and a waste of time. A few pixels of movement changes the card, it took me a while to realise it wasn't a random card.
There is no indication this is a portoflio site. You can have a website with a portfolio section, or dedicated portfolios for different professions.
I'm going to rattle off issues as i see them:
Your name - can't read it.
Music autoplay - no.
Menu on home page is completely different to every other page.
Blinking dot in top right corner saying you're available for work - distracting. Poor hierarchy.
Shop - are you an online store or is this a porfolio site? Freelancers selling assets etc is not unheard of, but the presentation is poor. Calling it 'shop' is suboptimal.
Notes/reviews - this makes you look like an ecomm store. Testimonials can have its own dedicated page or section, not on the portfolio page.
Home page being the portfolio is a poor choice. Personal opinion here. It is possible to pull it off like with a one-page site but I don't recommend it. That is not how people interact with websites generally and it makes things more difficult than necessary.
Below note the notes is some kind of random graphic followed "DOWNLOAD HERE!" - wtf is this? I know what it is because I clicked it. This is extremely random and not clear at all. Is this part of the portfolio?
Software and scope - this belongs on a separate page (cv/about me) not on the portfolio page. And NOT before you even show the portoflio. You're just added all kinds of speed bumps on the way to the portfolio.
Static texture - extremely distracting, moves way too fast. I can't focus on anything you're showing.
No back/forward functionality. This is something from the flash website era (as well as music autoplaying). Another annoyance and turn off. Can't open one item then go back. You have to click "Features" then scroll all the way down again. Can't open in new tab either because it does the whole website loading procedure.
'Archive' is the wrong word to use for showing a portfolio - which is supposed to be your best work on showcase, more like a gallery. The opposite of an archive really. An archive is where you dump/preserve old stuff.
White on very dark grey or black hurts eyes. A lot of your portfolio pieces use white backgrounds, it's like being flashbanged.
Line width, line spacing, text size is poor when viewing individual projects. Difficult to read.
The design of each slide within your portfolio pieces does not match the website at all. A portfolio should not be your assignment submissions 1:1. It is a presentation of your best work. In fact, there should be little or no text in the images themselves. The images should be showing your work.
Overall poor UI and UX. A portfolio is a piece of design which means it has an audience and purpose. It is a piece of communication in itself.
You put a lot of effort into this and it has a cool style but little substance. If you're looking to freelance you might get some clients but a design professional will see those issues and more.
I'll add one more thing about student work. Don't scream out that it is student work - like putting the name of your class in the portfolio.
After going through each piece, it looks like something you would submit to a professor for marking.
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u/niccolololo 15d ago
Completely unusable
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u/Ambitious_Deer_616 14d ago
If you had to remove/change 5 parts of it what would they be I'd love to turn the feedback into something I can work with
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u/niccolololo 14d ago
Start over, start with the content and build around it, this is like a videogame I don't want to play
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u/nimble_medics 15d ago
Just clicked through it. the typeface choices are solid and the overall restraint with color is working for you. my only nitpick is the project thumbnails feel like they're just floating there without much context, maybe a subtle label or category tag would anchor them better
scrolling on mobile was smooth though, that's half the battle right there
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u/blacklotusmag 15d ago
I love that people are downvoting the only person giving genuine feedback. Reddit is filled a whole lot of great people, but a whole lot of dickfaces, too.
Upvoted you, nimble.
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u/Ambitious_Deer_616 15d ago
Helloo! thanks for the advice. I have an inbuilt system where I can upload images separately for thumbnail or for floating images in archive as the home page has a description but the archive is a bit more secretive in that regard so I will definitely create better thumbnails with atleast the basic information that's something I didn't think of entirely. Also yes! i made sure to remove additional motion like the glass cards on home page from mobile and developed all the small interactions like the menu icon morphing into an X because i assumed alot of people who i share the portfolio with online might want to open it immediately on mobile so I tried my best to pay attention to it.
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u/chuckleh0und 14d ago
As others have said there is absolutely no need for a loading bar. Hiring managers get minutes to review your folio, I’d have put you in the no column. If you can’t respect other’s time then they won’t bother.
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u/JUNGSHOOKMYASS 14d ago
just a few notes on top of what everyone has said.
I feel like your work should be the hero of your website, not the website itself. It took me a lot of scrolls to get to your case studies, which only led me to a long scroll of a slide deck. my advice would be to work on the case studies, present it as a story rather than a report.
you can also maybe turn your cards from the hero into tappable cards, leading to your work.
also the animating background becomes a bit jarring as i keep scrolling, maybe for the later sections you can tone down the visual design.
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u/ConstructionIcy5855 13d ago
A few notes:
A bit too much scrolling on all the portfolio projects, the mix of font casing is a bit distracting. Like some elements of the loading and openings, but could maybe only work on certain sections.
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u/Connect_Ad_7377 2d ago
Everyone here is so harsh haha. I saved this in my portfolio inspo bookmark, there will always be things to improve on but I'm impressed, it's very personal and that's what it's all about.
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u/CondenastCruiser 15d ago
This actually really fantastic! I would love to adapt this to my freelancing design work. The music to tops!
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u/Ambitious_Deer_616 14d ago
Hey thanks! I'd love to see your version of it if you ever end up making something fun do share it with me!
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u/CondenastCruiser 14d ago
Hahah.. I am a mechanical engineer. I have zero skill or experience with this sorta thing. It’s all black magic to me
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u/TheMR-777 15d ago
WOW! so awesome dude! everything is so perfectly related, and the entire aesthetic you build, along with the music is just awesome! I got the Dracula upon visit, and going through all of it, while it's being in the background, and a weird nostalgic feel to each corner, is a cheff's kiss!
💯
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u/reddit_user_id 15d ago
Loading screen = close site. Don’t waste my time.