15 comments

  • Account deleted over 5 years ago
    • logo: great
    • branding: perfect
    • interactions: brilliant
    • presentations of your works: great
    • interactive customised google maps api: heck yeah. I knew it could be done. I'm going to show your site when ever someone rejects the simplest customisation on gmaps. gradients? custom colors? nicely done.

    that's a great website mate. I am not going to write some buzzworthy words but you managed to keep your portfolio simple, tidy and the communication level is great. It's not too 'businessperson' and friendly. and the most important part is, not sassy. This is a job and you're aware that you are not an entertainer :)

    Keep up the nice work mate. I'm adding your page to my bookmarks.

    1 point
    • Mark O'NeillMark O'Neill, over 5 years ago

      Thank you very much George, that is kind feedback.

      For the map I used SnazzyMaps which is a great tool and saves a lot of messing around with JS. They have recently introduced a 'build a map' feature which makes custom markers etc very easy.

      All the best!

      1 point
      • Account deleted over 5 years ago

        Oh, I didn't knew about SnazzyMaps either. I'll also attach it along with your site :)

        Thanks!

        0 points
  • Robert BulloughRobert Bullough, over 5 years ago

    Lovely work

    My only feedback of any real value would be about your brand proposition. Your site, upon first glance appears to be an agency. Yet there are only two samples (albeit nice ones) of the agency's work, seems odd. Then when going to the About page it is revealed that this is in fact a single human. Throughout the site there are references to 'Ondesign' in the third person (as though you were an agency/collective) yet in fact you are an individual.

    My advice would be to choose one and stick to it- either you're a human or you are an abstracted identity/brand/collective. Buy-in and trust will be cleaner.

    0 points
    • Mark O'NeillMark O'Neill, over 5 years ago

      Hi Robert. Thanks very much for your feedback – I entirely agree and this is something I agonised over for some time.

      If my marketing campaign to agencies provides few opportunities then I will have to find work elsewhere and the best way to do that is to present myself as a small agency. Being able to convert the site quickly will allow me to do so without any wasted time but I do appreciate it is a trade-off in trust.

      I would have liked a lot more work on there but a lot of what I do is through other agencies so I cannot claim the work as my own. Hopefully I will find a few more projects of my own that I can add in the future.

      Again, thanks, all the best.

      0 points
  • Marcel M., over 5 years ago

    I like the overall design (fits my personal taste). A little fancy but not too overwhelming. Make sure you get the scroll-timing right (objects appearing, disappearing when scrolled into view). My only advice for these timing issues: Take a fresh look in about 2 weeks and you'll instantly notice little things that you won't see today due to your constant self-exposure to the project :)

    Tiny win: The "disappearing" Get in touch button effect on the About page should be either reverted or completely removed when entering the section. If you're on a desktop computer, your mouse cursor "accidentally" triggers this field when the get-in-touch section scrolls into view. Not sure if intentional, but feels a little uncomfortable :)

    0 points
    • Mark O'NeillMark O'Neill, over 5 years ago

      Thanks Marcel. You are entirely right, even a day away from it allowed me to see some small issues.

      The 'Get In Touch' hover effect has been applied around that entire section as the link is wrapped around it all - you can click anywhere. On reflection, it would probably make more sense to just apply the link to the button so I will amend that.

      Thanks again for taking the time to look and leave feedback. All the best.

      0 points
  • Cristian MoiseiCristian Moisei, over 5 years ago

    In case you don't know this already, I'll share it since it's a lesson I learned the hard way: visually, this looks great, as everyone pointed out, but I've never seen someone land a client because of the hover effects on their site. My 2c is to stop worrying about the looks of the site for the foreseeable future (it already looks great) and focus on getting better clients, expanding your network, improving the quality of your work, focusing your services (you seem to be a bit of a jack of all trades and master of none at the moment).

    Clients care a lot more about who recommended you and who you worked with in the past, then about how much sense what you are saying makes and how good your actual work is, and only last about how good your portfolio site is.

    0 points
    • Mark O'NeillMark O'Neill, over 5 years ago

      Thanks Christian. I requested feedback as I am about to send out a mail based marketing campaign – the details of which I may share in the near future – and wanted to ensure the site was as good as it could be in preparation for that.

      I have been working as a freelance designer for some time and understand the business but am aiming to promote my services to a new audience - agencies. I have tried to create a site which demonstrates the full range of skills I can offer them and will be a touch point for my other efforts which certainly include networking.

      It is sound advice you are offering though, and definitely something all designers should heed. A portfolio is only a single facet to good personal marketing.

      Thanks for taking a look, and for your feedback.

      0 points
      • Cristian MoiseiCristian Moisei, over 5 years ago

        Good luck with that approach, would you let me know how it goes? I used to be a freelancer too, I know the pains, and I never had any luck with agencies.

        0 points
        • Mark O'NeillMark O'Neill, over 5 years ago

          Of course, I plan to write up what I have been up to at some point. It may result in nothing but we will see how it goes. If not then I will just change the copy on my site to tailor it to regular clients and nothing is lost.

          Will let you know when I get around to reporting. Thanks!

          0 points
  • Hamza Ahmed, over 5 years ago

    I really like the scrolling effect that you have on your website, your logo stands out from its background as well, an addition of more content on your homepage is what I would suggest as an improvement. Also, try to make your website more easy to navigate. Overall, so far, your website looks nice but there is certainly room for improvement!

    0 points
  • Mark O'NeillMark O'Neill, over 5 years ago

    I have just about finished a website for my freelance business. There is still some optimisation and SEO stuff to do but it looks and functions as it should now (hopefully).

    I currently freelance for a couple of agencies and am looking at trying to find some more so the website is very much aimed at them.

    Ideally I would like some more projects on there but I am limited as I can't claim most of the work I do publicly. I have just tried to use it to show off skills more than anything. Let me know what you think, if you spot any errors etc.

    Thanks, Mark

    0 points
    • A. DeWittA. DeWitt, over 5 years ago

      Visually-striking back to front, I'm taking notes for my eventual redesign.

      Considering your obvious talent, I think the copy above your home page "get in touch" button could be strengthened. Writing the call to action in problem->solution format would be a good place to start: "Need a proven designer-developer to get your project to the finish line on time? Drop me a line, I can help." You know specifically what your clients are struggling with and how your skill-set solves their problems/makes them money. Put it in those terms. All this applies to your contact page as well.

      Looking forward to more from you!

      0 points
      • Mark O'NeillMark O'Neill, over 5 years ago

        Thanks Andrew, that is both very kind and useful feedback.

        I will certainly revisit my call to action copy. What is there is just what I put in quickly during the build and it could definitely work much harder.

        Thanks again for taking the time to look through it.

        Mark

        0 points