Portfolio - Tyler Trevell

[Grizzly3D]

Hi all, im a bit disappointed that my web design post was closed, as i was offering those who couldn't build websites a service, but anyway those details can be seen on my art/design portolio site anyway...

Tyler Trevell :: Online Portfolio

i will be adding more actually content to the website as i get time, but i added a few of my zbrrush sculpts and websites so feel free to crit those too,

Thanks.

[Talon]

Not to be rude... but someone offering web design services who doesn't use css, uses frames and tables, doesn't use alt text, uses music on websites... well, that's cheeky verging on embarassing. Those are all basic schoolboy errors in web design (and present throughout all of your sites). All you need now is sounds and a flash interface :P

As for the site itself... it's a little drab colour and interface-wise. It does it's job, but it could be brought to life a lot more with some stylish highlights and a better menu and title. Maybe introduce the green colour into the site content somehow, give the headers some more oomph so they stand out and especially draw more attention to the links (add a hover effect for some user feedback). Just now all the text on the site (header, links and content) looks very similar, making it hard to read against dark grey and also tough to distinguish the hierarchies. The thumbnails are inconsistently sized on the front page. Also, ensure your grammar is correct (there's a lot of lowercase Is around the place) - bad grammar and spelling always makes you look bad.

Back up the claim "i can and have developed professional websites and designs for several clients who have all been pleased with the results." by showing the live sites (none of the sites linked are for clients other than yourself).

Aaaand .nr is for Republic of Nauru... you might want to splash out on registering a proper .co.uk domain and hosting - it's very cheap these days and will look a whole lot more respectable than free webhosting and dodgy free domain forwarding.

*edit; Oh yeah, and you might want a full CV/resume up there, too, rather than a bio.

[DooFi]

Originally Posted by Talon

a proper .co.uk domain

Haha, co.uk xD
Even if i were from the UK, I would rather register a net, org, xxx, com, wtf domain than blemishing everyone's address bar with that Second-Level-Domain stuff... I mean, co.uk or co.nr, what difference does that make? it's at least two characters too much to type and looks equally shitty. The only argument against co.nr and for co.uk is, that people are used to co.uk, but that goes only for UK folks

(idk about the prizes though)

edit: wow, the entire island of Nauru has about 2.5 times less inhabitants than my hometown and is one of the smallest countries on earth.

[glynnsmith]

I don't really see any real design in any of the websites you've made for yourself or your "company".

But this one: Black text on a dark grey bg? Not a good idea, unless you somehow predicted that your visitors wouldn't want to read your body copy.

Trying to get £50 per "website" cheapens the design trade and gives other, legitimate web designers (who work their various disciplines for years before they consider themselves a designer) a bad name - and on top of that, trying to pass yourself off as a successful web designer with the stuff I've seen makes it all worse.

I see it all too often. People doing the least amount of work, to a shabby finished quality, then labeling themselves as the biggest new kid on the block. It's rubbish. It's fake. It's an insult to the people that work at it. Trying to pass yourself off as a web designer is just the same thing, and I have to admit that it pisses me off.

Trying to sell yourself a second time on GA, when Doylle closed your first thread and issued you a warning is just beyond words, tbh - even if you're calling yourself a "CEO".

Oh. And you spelled "sculpt" wrong, too.

[Grizzly3D]

Christ, G-A has changed since i became active again, you guys are tough fish to please. I’m using .co.nr until i get my final pass on the portfolio which is a WIP! And I’m annoyed that you say the other two sites isn’t design, how is it not.

This is coming from someone who has a website with plain text on their website. Don't get me wrong, i love crits but keep them pleasant. I really don’t see what’s wrong with me posting prices on my site, it’s my choice what i charge, and they are cheap and many people have used my services at these prices.

I don’t know why my last topic was closed, if you don’t want me offering services to your community then I’m sorry but that’s plain stupid. For those who can’t build websites it’s a chance to have one at a low cost.

About the frames/tables. I’ve had this argument before, and ill win it a second time. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH TABLES! it keeps all the text where its meant to be, and i am using CSS for these websites unless you didn't realise.

I'm very disappointed with the reaction I’m getting from you guys; sure the portfolio website needs changes and ill take some of your crits and change things about. But GA has changed from its "pleasant community" since i last posted. We're all meant to be friends here, I’m paying money to GA for special membership and still being treated like shite.

Disappointed

[Talon]

I wasn't intended to be overly aggressive, apologies if you took it as that. But I also wouldn't be happy in myself if I simply said "sure, site's great, no crits", especially when it's been posted here for crits and I see a fair amount of stuff to crit. And, like G, as someone who dabbles in web design (and has 5 years of experience at a professional level - i.e. in established web design companies) I see stuff like this a lot and it infuriates me, so I guess I let that get the better of me.

I wasn't saying the other two sites are not designed, I'm just saying that your claim of creating several other professional quality sites and that you have several very pleased clients is currently an unsubstantiated claim as both those sites were created for you by you. I see no hint of the other sites you claim tons of people are happy with. And there's nothing wrong with plain text in a web site - it loads faster, scales up perfectly and fits with the design of my site flawlessly...

As an aside, in a world where website accessability is king, tables are a bad thing. They are not flexible, they often break sites when viewed by anyone with accessibility options turned on and bloat the html pages. You do use CSS in the other sites you pointed to (not in your folio, though) but you also use a lot of html formatting - defeating the purpose. The frame so you can direct the site to your free hosting pretty much blocks any attempt to copy/paste the url from your page to anyone else and the free hosting immediately makes all your projects hosted there look a million miles from professional.

As for why your threads were deleted, we do not allow unauthorised advertising on these forums.

[doylle]

Check pm...

[sarge mat]

Originally Posted by Grizzly3D

I’m paying money to GA for special membership and still being treated like shite.

At the end of the day, the "special membership" is for people who wish to support this fine community and get a few perks in return. It does not make us any higher than the other members who don't pay. There are only two levels, members and staff.

[benclark]

ooooh drama!

I dont know anything about web design but I do enjoy the bickering.

The main crit I have on your site is the red wax models. Zbrush has a sweet renderer and it takes about 2 minutes to make a matcap, or even go through the matcap repository at zbrushcentral and grab some free ones. It really pays to present your stuff well on the front page, its probably the major factor in making people stay and look around rather than shut it down immediately

When my first site went up I got dogs abuse from Glynn and various other assorted people. It was horseshit and they called me on it, because it was infact horseshit. You can either get pissy about it or take the comments on board

[Craig Lewis]

Originally Posted by DooFi

Haha, co.uk xD
Even if i were from the UK, I would rather register a net, org, xxx, com, wtf domain than blemishing everyone's address bar with that Second-Level-Domain stuff... I mean, co.uk or co.nr, what difference does that make?

The difference betweeen .co.uk and .co.nr is that .co.nr is a free domain, and therefore doesn't look good, as people will probably instantly assume your site is rubbish, if you cannot be bothered to pay for a domain. Whereas .co.uk domains are extremely popular with people from the UK, as people will instantly know you are based in the UK.

it is the fifth most popular top-level domain worldwide (after .com, .de, .net and .cn),

Originally Posted by DooFi

it's at least two characters too much to type and looks equally shitty.

If people are too lazy to type two extra characters, they don't deserve to visit my site.



Anyway, Tyler, I'm going to have to agree with what others have said about your site. If you really want to offer web design as a service you should at least make your own site look decent, because when you compare your example sites to your own, it just looks as though you used a template for them.

I also wouldn't solely concentrate on your zbrush stuff. They look alright, but I wouldn't say they're looking particularly realistic. Having other stuff will show potential employers that you can do other stuff. Because from this I wouldn't know whether you can use 3DS Max or photoshop.

Also, from the writing on your site, I'm unsure as to whether you are looking for a job making games, or just making websites. Because from the way it's written, it just seems like you want to make websites.

Saying "(while working from home)" seems a bit arrogant, and would probably put people off from hiring you, if you're not willing to relocate.