Competitive Analysis

Professional Portfolio: dan Lindop
The first thing I noticed about this site was the effort he had put into advertising that his site's are validated and accessible. This is something that should be promoted the fullest as it is the thing that is likely to get us employed. His design is quite simple and plain, which means no bells and whistles, just clear and straight forward. His choice of colours work well together, although some people might argue that his site would cause eye strain as it has a dark background on light coloured text. He seems to have his own corporate identity, which is a must if you are going to advertise yourself. It gives people the impression that he is actually bothered about his career.

There's not much information about the person throughout the site. I expected some information about him and what he does. Some of the pages jump to the left.

The flash can be slightly annoying; although I cannot see people staying on the home page for very long anyway as nothing is shown on it. The banner can also be distracting. Some of the font sizes are too small. They need to be enlarged. Some text is also italicized, which makes it harder to read.

The navigation is clear and easy to use, which is excellent for new internet viewers. The hyperlinks within the body text are also different which makes them easier to spot. The hierarchy of the layout is pretty good. Things that need to be noticed are genuinely larger than other parts of information that aren't as useful. The site also makes use of its space, which is consistent all the way through.

Improvements
The logo needs to be a link back to the home page. This was something that I had expected to happen. Some of the text sizes need to be larger and not italicized. I also think that more information on the person himself needs to be displayed on the homepage. The homepage is quite blank. It needs something to keep the viewers interested. The underline beneath the links has bad contrast until they are pointed over. I also think that alt tags are needed to be more accessible for people with difficulties.

Overall I give the site a 7/10

Student Portfolio: Jason Wan
This site needs some work on the colours. The choice of the colours used conflict. I think that too much colour has been used and could look a lot more professional. The chess pieces I don't understand for the links. The text is grammatically wrong. A good spell check is also needed. The logo also needs some relevance to web design. A nice banner or header would liven the site up

The work shown isn't his best work. Only his best work should be displayed on the site. The site is very plain, and the layout has not been experimented with at all. He could create a far more interesting site with some rearrangements. Some of the links change size when highlighted. This is rather annoying.

Consistency with the text is appalling. The same font and size should be used on every page, and not a different one each page. There isn’t a contacts page, which means viewers would have to post him if ever they wanted him.

Improvements
The colours need to be more contrasting. Try choosing two other colours. Too much colour is also bad, especially when having coloured background on text. The background of the text should be a light colour, most professionally white. The layout could be improved. Moving links and the content around and creating some sort of header would make the site stand out a lot more.

Only show your best work. The choice of work that has been shown is off-putting. There should be some method of communication for viewers to get in touch with the designer. This could be simple email address or a feedback form.

Fonts need to be consistent all the way through the site. Stick to one font. The hierarchy of the site could also be improved. Having important or key words embossed would help viewers that are scanning the site. I would also suggest not having a cartoon portrait of yourself up.

The images need to be viewed without having to hover over the irrelevant icon. This can be annoying as if you move your pointer off the marker then you lose the image. The images can be placed quite easily on the page without the use of this feature. It would also be nice to see the images larger or the actual working final and not just screen prints of the work.

I give this site 3/10