Portfolio Research

Name	Layout	Trying to promote?/Services	Strengths	Weaknesses
Dan Crinnion	Simplistic yet easy to navigate. Plain, not very eye-catching. Plain white with black text and some images/videos. Includes CV	His CV. Attached to the website. Clearly emphasises the fact that he has 19 years’ experience in film editing.  His services include film editing.	Neat and organised layout - clearly shows and explains what he has contributed to. Explains exactly what he did.  Uses short clips to advertise his best work	Not much description or info on many of the tabs. Only briefly explains what he does and doesn’t go into depth. Minimal design - not interesting to look at.
Samuel Care	Dark, yet modernistic and easy to navigate. Includes plenty of media such as images, backgrounds and video clips. Includes CV.	His work. Each project he has worked on is clearly displayed on his website. Also attached is his CV, so employers can have a clear idea of what to expect. His services include cinematography.	Website is easy to navigate and fun to look at. Tech savvy layout demonstrates that Care is comfortably familiar with technology and has an artistic eye	Not much writing. Care includes clips and media, but there is a lack of writing and description about each of these projects.
Matt Gray	Simplistic and plain. White background with black, plain text and some images - slideshows. Does not include CV.	Trying to promote cinematography. Promoting his work in many TV shows, such as Gentleman Jack and Three Girls. However, he does not want to be contacted online so does not include CV. His services include cinematography.	Simple and easy to navigate website. Clearly presents what he has worked on and his current projects.  Includes brief descriptions of each project	The design could have used more effort. Doesn’t stand out much compared to other portfolio websites.  Also, could include more information.
Mike Phillips	Dark but fun background. Clear portfolio of all projects Phillips has worked on. Includes CV.	Trying to promote his editing work. Has worked on multiple TV shows; looking for more work is inferred as includes CV. His services include film editing.	Simple website portfolio with minimal tabs and categories. Includes CV and contact details for easy work.	Too simple and outdated design. Only has two tabs/pages and no text. Ambiguous about what his work consists of;
Casarotto Ramsay	Simple and plain background with plain black text. Includes images with only a brief description. Quality of images are low and pixelated.	Their production work - has a complete list of all their clients. A whole company rather than an individual person. They have a range of services, such as creative technicians and editing/filming.	Very descriptive of the work they have done and the clients they have worked with. Clear and easy to navigate as well as some images to give an idea of their work;	Again, the design is quite plain and counteractive as it doesn’t demonstrate their creative mind, inferred through the lack of design and colours.
Danielle Palmer	Plain white background with black text and some images. Includes contact details and CV for easy contact. Clips from their projects. Includes CV.	Promotes their editing work. However, there is no text detailing information about her projects, just clips. Offers editing work.	Easy to navigate and simplistic. Plain design promotes professionalism and formality.  Inclusion of CV means potential clients have an honest idea of who this person is and their work.	Yet again, the design is too simplistic and does not demonstrate an example of their creative mind. Chooses professionalism over creativity.
David Katznelson	Dark, modernistic design which suggests that Katznelson is in touch with modernity. Has short clips and images detailing their work. Also has an ‘about’ section so very informative. Does not include CV.	His photography. Provides a range of different projects of different genres such as documentaries, film and TV.  Professionalism is shown as he has his own agents for contact. Offers cinematography and photography.	Easy to navigate and understand. Modernistic design and the insertion of images and videos presents professionalism and a tech savvy approach - useful as his career revolves around technology.	Does not stand out when compared with other portfolios. A lot of them will choose to go with a dark, modernistic approach or be completely devoid of colour - attention is not directed onto the work as it should be.

 

From researching and evaluating each of these professional portfolios, I concluded that although a plain background - either dark or white - may look professional, it is not the best demonstration of the creative mind. Therefore, in my own portfolio, I hope to include either more colour or just a more interesting layout, whether this includes images or not.

As well as this, I also found that neatness in a portfolio is crucial, as it allows potential clients/employers to be able to easily navigate your work and thus, this is another great example of professionalism in design and why it is attractive to employers.

David Katznelson was my favourite portfolio to look at since there was a perfect balance of text and media. Too much text is unnecessary as it doesn’t clearly demonstrate skill, but some description is needed to help clients understand what work was carried out by one’s self in any previous projects, as well as allowing for a biography also.