Here are 5 creative portfolio websites that I’m actually quite jealous of, there are some very talented designers out there and this is my little tribute to them and their ability.
Freshfolio is a sweet little horizontal scrolling website with quirky functionality like the slider that helps to scroll through items. This site has some nice typography although it is a little dark with its neon touch none the less is a neat little quirky site with plenty of drop down options on the navigation. The detail in the lighting and textured material in the background is sublime!
ILevel is a mix of traditional and metro style with the added bonus of being a bootstrap responsive hybrid. There is some lovely lighting on the logo with a nice casting shadow, the mix of traditional and homage to metro style could be dangerous ground but I think it works really well. The bright colours that lend themselves to metro are carefully considered and compliment the backdrop, once you navigate around the site you’ll notice a wealth of options on the navigation, layout and colours, the user experience and functionality can be a little over the top at times but its a showcase so if you use it you can always simmer that down.
Panda has a flashy touch to it but don’t let that put you off! With it’s minimal feel and muted colours it gives you a feeling of a late autumnal afternoon whilst the sunsets and gives everything a warm orange glow, the UX is smooth and absorbing and the use of the grid with responsive effect is something that is just lovely to see, just making the browser small and large or hovering the images gives you a nice interactive engaging experience without being over the top. My only criticism would be that the typography is a little small, apart from that it’s a really nice template.
Goblack is a simple monotone single page responsive site with smooth scrolling. The navigation has a nice flow that takes you through the site organically but I had an issue with the blog. The team section has a sweet touch with the personalised pop toggle with links to individuals social profiles. The portfolio’s got a great feel to it although you would have to keep the number of items to a minimal if you wanted to avoid endless scrolling. The issue I had with the blog is that although you’re kept on the page it would be difficult to paginate and retain the single page feel of the site, I couldn’t see a solution for leaving a comment and if feels as though the job isn’t quite finished. However that said it’s still a very well designed site, the typography is clean and easy to read, the slider has multiple movement and it’s well worth a punt if you’re into single page scrolling websites.
Monoloop has a lot going on but the UX is very good. Again with a single page scrolling effect the site has been well thought out, enhanced with traditional design and very good typography considerations it still manages to celebrate modern metro design characteristics. It’s responsive ratio aspects are meticulously considered and it seems to maintain this consistently throughout the site. The blog has a finished feel as the user is kept engaged even though the browser refreshes, it seems to refresh so quickly that the user wouldn’t even notice the change. Because the portfolio is the home page the pagination seems to work although you do feel a little bit conned as the site doesn’t really paginate but throw you back to the home section. All in all though a very nice site.
Although I hate that whole designer copy and paste culture I think there are some really well designed resources out there that are not only useful for learning from but actually have there place in the world of budget and turnaround, so that is why I pay my respects to those who spend the time to create and design these creative portfolio websites.