

Tell HN: Just launched our web design portfolio - ashraful

http://www.madebyargon.com<p>MadeByArgon is a web design/development firm started by me (Ashraful) and fellow HN-er Nathan Peck (who does all the coding).<p>We were working on building a solid web design/dev portfolio for the last few months and its finally ready. We wanted HN to have the first look.<p>We would love to hear what you think of the designs, and would love some feedback on the portfolio. We would also appreciate any advice on what you think is the best way to market our services and reach out to potential customers.
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pdelgallego
I am developer, but I am trying to build my portfolio now that I am out of
work. Take my advices with a grain of salt, as I said I am not a designer.

\- Include links to the live version of the sites that you had design. You are
selling design + xhtml, so show your html in the wild.

\- The design background is very similar to other in themeforest, I like it,
but for me is a bad point if you are a designer.

\- The website dont need to look exactly the same in every browser, but need
to look good in any browser. Check how your website display in iphones,
androids, etc. Use css3 media queries.

\- In the contact information, provide a phone number, or at least an skype
contact. Some customers feels better talking to you on the phone. Maybe a
twitter and other social networks.

\- If you use flickr or other apps use them to promote your work.

\- Describe your service in a tagline, or at least in the front page.

\- in about, let the costumers know more about you guys, people like to know
who are they doing business with. Answer this questions

    
    
      - Who is this person?
    
      - Are they trustworthy and reliable?
    
      - Are they looking for work?
    
      - What technology are they experts in? 
    

\- As wdewind said above, show only your best works.

\- use the last jquery version.

\- Dont style the page using the inline style attribyte in the nodes. replace
them with with external CSS definitions.

~~~
ashraful
Thanks a lot for the advice.

About linking to the live versions of the website, the reason I did not do
that was because, most of the work displayed are design only and were coded by
the client themselves. Only a few of the designs were coded by Nathan (such as
the VLC one), and not all the designs are online yet. Instead of linking to
the live versions for some of them, I decided it was more important to
maintain consistency and just link to larger versions for all of them.

~~~
Staydecent
You should tell viewers that. Talk about what you did for each project, your
approach and the technology used; By having a portfolio consisting of just a
bunch of images you run the risk of potential clients saying, "I want the
VLC<or whatever> website." This has happened to me.

Also, I would do a major rework the layout of your website. Nothing lines up
(use a grid). There is extra black padding below the screenshots. At no point
does the content area reach the left most edge of the navigation bar; either
try left-aligning some of the content or shrink the navigation bar.

And the most important: Design a home/landing page. While keeping your 3
pages(work, about, contact) create a fourth, the landing page, that sells your
company like a mother fucker.

And, in my experience, the most effective way of getting clients is locally.
The majority of people visiting your site will NOT be looking for your
services. But, if you want ANY hope of getting clients through your website,
start SELLING. A list of several websites, and 1 screenshot each is NOT
selling. You _need_ copy.

------
juddlyon
Congrats on the launch! The variety of projects and quality look good. I'd
concur with others about linking to the live projects and telling more about
yourselves. Also, I'd switch your logo to the left and main nav to the right
so it's the first thing people see. Lastly, the dead space to the left of the
justified project nav messes with the symmetry of the page.

Marketing: reach out to larger design/dev firms. They often have overflow work
and always need reliable contractors (repeat business and word of mouth are
crucial). Nathan should go to Refresh Austin if he doesn't already (every 2nd
Tues at Buffalo Billiards). Contact me, I own a web shop and would be happy to
help however I can.

Good luck!

~~~
ashraful
Thanks a lot! I will take your feedback into consideration when I launch the
next version of the site, will talk to Nathan about Refresh Austin.

I'll also be sending you an email soon. Thanks.

------
ashraful
Clickable link: <http://www.madebyargon.com>

------
kingsidharth
Interesting, but you need more work on UX and designing with purpose and Why.

Overall, can be better in design. Dev - Haven't seen an example yet.

~~~
wdewind
Well, I think everyone needs to work on that. You basically said "nice, but I
think you still need to be working on becoming a better designer." This is
true for you, and for everyone.

That being said, I think this is a really nice portfolio, especially for
people looking for a "Web 2.0" (yea yea I said web 2.0 sue me) style site. I
would probably get rid of the Patrick Lynch page, it is by far your worst
design in there. The rest I thought were very nice.

As for the site, personally as a someone involved in the industry directly
this is exactly what I need to see. It's no bullshit and quickly gets me to
your work. I would definitely reach out to you. But I think you need a little
more of a ramp up for the less savvy customers. Just a home page with a big
"WE DO XYZ" like you've done for most of your clients would be a nicer
introduction than going right into your work IMO.

Nice stuff!

~~~
ashraful
Thanks a lot. I agree that I can definitely improve my skills, and I try to
keep learning everyday. I'm really happy that you mentioned "Patrick Lynch" as
one of the worst design, because its one of the earliest one that I did.

About having a homepage with a big "We do XYZ", I actually launched this with
the intention of getting a quick portfolio online showcasing my design work.
Right now I am expecting to get work from web developers who need a designer,
or customers who knows what they are looking for, so I figured diving right
into the work is the right way to go.

I intend to launch a full-fledged website in about 6 months with more
elaborate information, a blog, links to social networks, etc. Right now, it
makes no sense to link to an empty blog, or a empty twitter account, since I'm
not sure if I'll be able to post regular updates on them, so I'll wait until I
have the content ready.

