JSDYKSTRA

JSDYKSTRA

***-- (Rated by 3 people, viewed by 96 people)

This is my web portfolio that I'm trying to keep as clean, minimal, and professional as possible while retaining functionality. Any input to make this site appear more mature and professional will be acknowledged and seriously considered.

It relies heavily on JavaScript in order to keep everything simple and on one page.

Added by jsdykstra in Portfolio

JSDYKSTRA has 3 Reviews

Below are the reviews left by other members on JSDYKSTRA. Jump to review form?

  1. [img: avatar]
    Haley gave it **--- on 3rd Jul 2009 and said:

    Helloooo! :) Nice to meet you. I'm Haley.

    Style/Design

    In terms of your simplicity, I think it's a little extreme. While I understand the desire and preference you made to keep everything on one page, scrolling for a long time is not very pleasing to the eye, as well as tiresome for my fingers to scroll for 5 pages length. I would reduce the number of images and/or entries you have on your front page. The front page of any portfolio is extremely important, and I'm not very impressed by this. Your photography is quite lovely, but your design really doesn't strike me as interesting or very professional. It's extremely bare. The balance of your layout isn't working for me either. Again, back to how long I have to scroll, your sidebar and navigation is so small that it's a completely offset look. I would recommend putting some information about yourself in the sidebar besides your little dropdown profile. Maybe extend the navigation to fit long-wise. I do enjoy the black & white throughout your site; if you could take it to the next level, I'd love to see it.

    Coding & Originality

    I know you are a photographer, not a web designer. However, you should really consider putting all your CSS into a stylesheet, the importing into your layout via one line of code. The main benefit of this is so that you don't have to change your coding in your header/index/footer if you were to change the layout. All you do is update the CSS file, and you're done. It makes things much easier to find when coding too. I think you'll prefer it in the long run. :) You do have some large errors in terms of your Lightbox usage. When I click on an individual pictures, your pages become 10+ pages long because you are not utilizing the Lightbox correctly. I would suggest you go to the Photography > Abstract category to see what I mean. Mind you, I am using Firefox. I am not sure what browser you use, though. A giant scroll bar is never inviting, so best to be rid of it.

    Conclusion

    I'd love to see you display your photography front-and-center. Right now, I have to navigate all through your site to find it. You're an extremely talented photographer, so take advantage of that! Put your images right on the front page in a layout. I would love to see your photos in a design. Good luck with your site. :)

    Using Firefox on Windows | Report This?

    jsdykstra's Response:

    Hi Haley, thanks for the review!

    It's a great idea to maybe keep the amount of articles smaller, maybe even at 1 per page, because I definitely see the offset once you scroll down past the rather short sidebar.

    Could you show me an example of what you mean by 10+ pages long? I'm not seeing it, and I'm using Firefox as well. If you mean the scroll bar on the right hand side, that's because the length of the web page to begin with.

    I agree, there should be more work implemented in the design of my website. I mean, that's what the page is about, right?

    Thanks for the review!

  2. [img: avatar]
    stepherz gave it ****- on 1st Jul 2009 and said:

    Hi John. I'm stepherz and will be reviewing your site today. :)

    Haha. I have to admit when I first saw your site name I thought you just banged on your keyboard, lol. I get it now though, it must make you really easy to find since the name is so relevant.

    Layout
    I love simplistic layouts. So clean and easy to get around. :) The site name is clearly there and easy to read, and the navigation is obvious and easy to get around. I've never understood the need to have the online users thing, but it doesn't take anything away from your site so it doesn't bother me. The feed is easy to get to perfect. Overall, I wish there was a little more going on, maybe a tad more color, but I understand what you want going on here, and its executed nicely. :)

    Blog(ish)
    What awesome photography. I'm excited to look at more. I'm quite jealous of your talent. I really love the first one you have up. The Infinity. Its so beautiful. I wish there was a little more.. distinction between posts. A few of them just seemed to run together at times, but its not a big deal.

    Content
    I think maybe the navigation should be reorganized. I think maybe your profile part or portfolio should be before you contact information since that's what your site focuses on. Otherwise I like the way your navigation works; its very nice. No need to really review anything since its all so brief. I think it might be beneficial to list your qualifications maybe? Such as if you got a degree at such and such college?
    Contact: Your link to your email is set up wrong. It should be a href="mailto: instead of just your email; right now it goes to a 404 page.
    Photos - Nothing really to review. Everything is so gorgeous. I love the landscapes. Everything is well organized and the pictures display wonderfully.

    Overall
    Your site definitly has a professional look which is what you're going for. It's very simplistic and easy to navigate which is excellent. Definitely fix the email link, or just make it normal text though. :)

    Using Firefox on Windows | Report This?

    jsdykstra's Response:

    I think the whole point of users online for me was to make sure no one was browsing the website while I was making changes. I can definitely hide that a little better.

    I could probably implement some styling somehow, because I agree, it is a tad boring. I'm not sure of the boringness either takes away or accentuates the photography, though, so I'm not sure if it's needed.

    Distinction between the posts! I can fix that. I agree strongly with that, as well. Sometimes they appear to just blend into each other, so I see what you mean.

    I definitely understand what you mean with putting the portfolio as the first link up there. I mean, that's the whole point of the website. I'll reorganize those links A.S.A.P.

    Qualifications would be great if I had any. :P

    Whoops, thanks for catching the screwy e-mail link! I never even noticed.

    Thanks for the in depth review, Stepherz! GREATLY appreciated!

  3. eruanna gave it ***** on 1st Jul 2009 and said:

    You have some great work!

    I love the layout, clean simple and it shows off your work effectively.

    Your Portfolio links list in the sidebar need styling (and on the archives page), the default bullets dont look right i'd also say the same for the square brackets around the titles.

    4 and a half stars because apart from those niggly bits its a great functional site.

    Using Firefox on Mac | Report This?

    jsdykstra's Response:

    Is there a way I can replace the default bullets? Also, I can try removing the brackets around titles in the blog.

    Thanks for the review, Euranna.

    Much appreciated.

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