Graphic Designer Vs Web Designer

10 Tips For A Better Portfolio

Kamal Thakur Sunday, March 24, 2019

10 Tips For A Better Portfolio

First Impressions Count: Your Portfolio is often the first thing. Telling a story, not oversharing and remembering your portfolio has users are just some of the things to keep in mind.

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#01. TELL A STORY

Working with a client or stakeholder on their product is a fascinating story. You and your team of heroes face a challenge; an unresolved point of tension – your client’s product is failing and its users are suffering. Using your complementary skillsets, will your team successfully navigate business constraints, timelines and technical debt to save the day? There lies the potential for a wonderful story arc – be the conduit for that drama, detailing the highs and lows, and ensuring you grab the reader’s attention.

#02. MAKE IT VISUALLY COMPELLING

The work we do is visual: users make sense of the products and services we design through our explicit visual hierarchies and relationships. Granted, great UX is more than eye-catching buttons and slick interactions, but taking the time to ensure your portfolio demonstrates a basic grasp of typography and layout will convince whoever picks up your portfolio that you’re confident in what is predominantly a visual medium.

#03. DON’T OVERSHARE

Mastering good communication is about knowing how much to share and when. Your portfolio should strike a balance between sharing enough detail on the problem you faced, your process, deliverables and outcomes, whilst not detailing every single meeting, conversation or pixel pushed in pursuit of the outcome. This takes practice — being aware of it is a great start!

#04. THINK ABOUT THE USER

Your portfolio is an experience too! Take some time to understand and empathise with those browsing your portfolio: what would you like them to know? How would you like them to feel? What actions should they take when they’re finished? Remember to ask for feedback on your portfolio from your peers or even recruiters. Just like your client’s products, your portfolio will benefit from constant pruning and iteration.

#05. BE HONEST

It is totally fine if, after testing or shipping your solutions, you find they didn’t have the impact or outcomes you’d hoped. In fact, humility and the ability to self-reflect on the weaker points of your process humanises you to those reviewing your portfolio. Just make it explicit how you would change your approach next time!

#06. REMEMBER TO SHARE ABIT OF YOU

It’s your portfolio after all. Reviewers are looking, first and foremost, for evidence of your ability to apply a human-centered design process to problem solving, but they’re also interested in hiring a decent, good-natured human being. Share a bit about what you like to do in your down time or on side projects to reassure the reviewer you’re not a UX robot.

#07. TAKE LOTS OF PHOTOS

Photos can speak a thousand words, elevating a dry process write-up to an engaging human-centered story. Take lots of photos during workshops and user testing sessions because they’ll come in handy when detailing your process in your portfolio case studies. Get your team to take to take photos too or you’ll be the only one not in them!

#08. WRITE NEWSPAPER HEADLINES, NOT CLIENT OR PRODUCT NAMES

This is a personal choice. We love to see portfolio case studies with titles in the tone of a salacious tabloid headline. A case study that simply uses the client or product’s name is a dull point of entry to a potentially exciting journey. The best examples capture the essence, drama and outcomes of the project in one pithy sentence. This is a skill that comes with practice but get it right and you’ll have portfolio reviewers hastily clicking to find out more.

#09. MAKE IT FORMOBILE

This should go without saying but being able to browse your portfolio on small screen devices is a must. I’ve seen a number of portfolios from experienced and talented candidates who’s portfolios render beautifully on large screens but degrade very ungracefully on smaller screens. If users are browsing your portfolio on a small screen, there are also other challenges to consider such as limited attention spans and different interaction expectations. Plan your content accordingly.

#10. BUILD YOUR OWN PORTFOLIO

You work in a digital medium: it is simply not enough to provide your portfolio as a printable document. Squarespace, Wix and GoDaddy all offer simple, flexible and affordable website building tools so there’s really no excuse to not have a digital presence. If you really want to pique your future employer’s attention, design and build your portfolio yourself. Learning to code has never be easier with online courses from the likes of SuperHi.

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10 Tips For A Better Portfolio

Reviewed by Kamal Thakur on Sunday, March 24, 2019 Rating: 5

Top 5 Course Websites Listings 2019

Kamal Thakur Sunday, March 24, 2019

Top 5 Course Websites Listings 2019

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#01. Northcoders
URL: https://northcoders.com/

Twitter: @northcoders

Facebook: Northcoders

Northcoders

Northcoders is the coding bootcamp for the north, based in the heart of Manchester and built upon northern values of grit, determination and community spirit. No matter what your background, you can fast-track your career and become a web or software developer in 12 weeks at their full-time bootcamp, or fit their course around your life with their 24-week part-time bootcamp. Their internal career support team will help find you work as a developer, setting up interviews with your choices of Northcoders Hiring Partners across the north of England.

#02. UDEMY

URL: https://www.udemy.com/

Twitter: @udemy

Facebook: udemy

UDEMY

The inspiration for Udemy began in a small village in Turkey, where founder Eren Bali grew up frustrated by the limitations of being taught in a one-room school house. Realising the potential of learning on the internet, he set out to make quality education more accessible. Udemy is now a global marketplace for learning and teaching online. Students can master new skills by choosing from an extensive library of over 40,000 courses, including HTML, CSS, UX, JavaScript and web development.

40,000+ Courses: There is a course for every designer and dev.

Self-Paced Learning: Learn how to code at your own pace.

#03. We Got Coders

URL: https://www.wegotcoders.com/

Email ID: hello@wegotcoders.com

We Got Coders

We Got Coders is a consultancy that provides experts in agile web development, working with startups, agencies and government. Take one of their 12-week training courses that covers all that is required to become a web developer, with highly marketable full-stack web development skills.

Classroom-Based Training
Real-World Work Experience
Employment Opportunities

#04. Future Learn

URL: https://www.futurelearn.com/

Email ID: feedback@futurelearn.com

Future Learn

Choose from hundreds of free online courses, from Language & Culture to Business & Management, Science & Technology to Health & Psychology. Learn from the experts. Meet educators from top universities who’ll share their experience through videos, articles, quizzes and discussions.

Learn From Experts
Free Courses
All-Device Access

#05. GYMNASIUM

URL: https://thegymnasium.com/

Email ID: help@thegymnasium.com

Gymnasium

Gymnasium offers free online courses, designed to teach creative professionals in-demand skills. Courses are all self-paced and taught by experienced practitioners with a passion for sharing practical lessons from the design trenches.

Gain real-world skills
Get expert instruction
Career opportunities

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Top 5 Course Websites Listings 2019

Reviewed by Kamal Thakur on Sunday, March 24, 2019 Rating: 5

Top Hosting Websites Listings 2019

Kamal Thakur Sunday, March 24, 2019

Top Hosting Websites Listings 2019

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#01. Featuredhost: Netcetera

URL: https://www.netcetera.co.uk/

Mob. No.: 03330439780

Netcetera

Descriptions:

Formed in 1996, Netcetera is one of Europe’s leading web hosting service providers, with customers in over 75 countries worldwide.

As the premier provider of data centre colocation, cloud hosting, dedicated servers and managed web hosting services in the UK, Netcetera offers an array of services designed to more effectively manage IT infrastructures. A state-of-the-art data centre environment enables Netcetera to offer your business enterprise-level colocation and hosted solutions.

Providing an unmatched value for your budget is the driving force behind our customer and managed infrastructure services. From single server to fully customised data centre suites, we focus on the IT solutions you need.

#02. Supreme Hosting: CWCS Managed Hosting

URL: https://www.cwcs.co.uk/

Mob. No.: 08001777000

CWCS Managed Hosting

Descriptions:

CWCS Managed Hosting is the UK’s leading hosting specialist. They offer a fully comprehensive range of hosting products, services and support. Their highly trained staff are not only hosting experts, they’re also committed to delivering a great customer experience and are passionate about what they do.

Colocation Hosting
VPS
100 Per Cent Network Uptime

#03. UK-Based Hosting: Cyber Host Pro

URL: https://www.cyberhostpro.com/

Mob. No.: 08455279345

Cyber Host Pro

Descriptions:

Cyber Host Pro are committed to providing the best cloud server hosting in the UK; they are obsessed with automation. If you’re looking for a hosting provider who will provide you with the quality you need to help your business grow, then look no further than Cyber Host Pro.

Cloud VPS Servers
Reseller Hosting
Dedicated Servers

#04. Cluster Web Hosting: Fast Hosts

URL: https://www.fasthosts.co.uk/

Mob. No.: 08081686777

Fast Hosts

Descriptions:

UK-based and operating 24/7 from dedicated UK data centres. Fasthosts keep over 1 million domains running smoothly and safely each day. Services can be self-managed through the Fasthosts Control Panel.

Dedicated Servers
Cloud Servers
Hosted Email

#05. Budget Hosting: Hetzner

URL: https://www.hetzner.com/

Mob. No.: +49 (0)9831 505-0

Hetzner

Descriptions:

Hetzner Online is a professional web hosting provider and experienced data centre operator. Since 1997, the company has provided private and business clients with high-performance hosting products as well as the infrastructure for the efficient operation of sites. A combination of stable technology, attractive pricing, flexible support and services has enabled Hetzner Online to strengthen its market position nationally and internationally.

Dedicated/Shared Hosting
Colocation Racks
SSL Certificates

#06. All-Inclusive Hosting: 1&1

URL: https://www.ionos.co.uk/

Mob. No.: 03333365509

1&1

Descriptions:

1&1 Internet is a leading hosting provider that enables businesses, developers and IT pros to succeed online. Established in 1988, 1&1 now operates across ten countries. With a comprehensive range of highperformance and affordable products, 1&1 offers everything from simple domain registration to award-winning website building tools, eCommerce packages and powerful cloud servers.

Easy Domain Registration
Professional eShops
High-Performance Servers

#07. SSD Web Hosting: Bargain Host

URL: https://www.bargainhost.co.uk/

Mob. No.: 08432892681

Bargain Host

Descriptions:

Since 2001, Bargain Host have campaigned to offer the lowest possible priced hosting in the UK. They have achieved this goal successfully and built up a large client database, which includes many repeat customers. They have also won several awards for providing an outstanding hosting service.

Shared Hosting
Cloud Servers
Domain Names

#08. Agency Hosting Specialist: Nimbus Hosting

URL: https://www.nimbushosting.co.uk/

Mob. No.: 02031266781

Nimbus Hosting

Descriptions:

Nimbus Hosting have partnered with agencies to develop our revolutionary platform STORM. With a team dedicated to outstanding support, our 5-star Google reviews truly speak for themselves. Join the thousands of agencies and freelancers who are benefitting from a control panel that speeds up your website developement as well as your client’s websites. Supercharge your digital projects today with STORM.

30-Second WordPress Install
Deploy directly from GitHub
Easy Team Management

#09. Flexible Cloud Servers: ElasticHosts

URL: https://www.elastichosts.co.uk/

Mob. No.: 02071838250

ElasticHosts

Descriptions:

ElasticHosts offer simple, flexible and cost-effective cloud services with high performance, availability and scalability for businesses worldwide. Their team of engineers provide excellent support 24/7 over the phone, by email and with a ticketing system.

Cloud Servers With Any OS
Linux OS Containers
24/7 Expert Support

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Top Hosting Websites Listings 2019

Reviewed by Kamal Thakur on Sunday, March 24, 2019 Rating: 5

Top 5 UX Conferences For 2019

Kamal Thakur Saturday, March 23, 2019

Top 5 UX Conferences For 2019

Into UX? Then checkout this selection of conferences to boost your UX Skills.

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#01. UX Camp Brighton

URL: www.uxcampbrighton.org

UX Camp Brighton

Descriptions: An 'unconference' for anyone involved or interested in user experience design, user research, usability, accessibility and more.

#02. UX Copenhagen

URL: https://uxcopenhagen.com

UX Copenhagen

Descriptions: A two-day conference for professionals working with and around User Experience Design set in the Danish city of Copenhagen.

#03. Blobmaker

URL: https://www.blobmaker.app/

Blobmaker

Descriptions: This is an easy-to-use web app that allows users to create, customize (colours/shape) and then download as an SVG.

#04. WebsiteVoice

URL: https://websitevoice.com

WebsiteVoice

Descriptions: Introducing voice offers greater accessibility for users and also convenience. This tool turns articles into audio quickly and easily.

#05. wiv.js

URL: https://jjkaufman.github.io/wiv.js

wiv.js

Descriptions: What can you do with a <div> tag? Lots, but can you make them wiggly? Check out this library for a bit of fun.

#06. Color Koala

URL: https://colorkoala.xyz

Color Koala

Descriptions: Want to quickly create a cool colour palette? Choose light/dark/bright and a hue and generate a new palette with a single click.

#07. UX Insight

URL: www.uxinsightevent.com

UX Insight

Descriptions: An international UX research conference that gives the community a boost by sharing knowledge, experiences and ideas.

#08. UX In The City

URL: https://uxinthecity.net/2019/manchester

UX In The City

Descriptions: Located in Manchester this is a hands-on, User Experience and Design conference for the web and mobile community.

#09. UX London

URL: https://2019.uxlondon.com

UX London

Descriptions: Learn from the authors, founders, directors and designers who are helping shape the industry and push it forward.

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Top 5 UX Conferences For 2019

Reviewed by Kamal Thakur on Saturday, March 23, 2019 Rating: 5

Create Folding Caption Effects Using CSS3

Kamal Thakur Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Create Folding Caption Effects Using CSS3

Using CSS3 transforms and transitions, we can create cool animations that can make your site more visually appealing

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STEP 1: The HTML

Once you have opened up your chosen text editor, we’re going to create a new file with the HTML5 doctype. Within our head tag we can add in our meta information and links to two CSS files we are going to create, one for our default styles and one for our main styles. Also because we are using HTML5 and CSS3, let’s include Modernizr to detect browser support.

CODE:

<head>

<title>Caption Hover Effects</title>

</script>

</head>

STEP 2: Container list

The next step would be to create a containing <div> within the <body> tag and with an unordered list included. So let’s give our containing <div> a class name of ‘container’ and then create an unordered list with four list tags within. We’ll give this list two class names of ‘grid ca-style’ (the ca-style stands for caption animation style)

STEP 3: Images and captions

We now need to populate our list items and we first use the <figure> element. The <figure> element is used to represent a unit of content and in this case, this will be for our caption. We then add the link to our image (which is located in a folder called ‘images’) and then we add the

CODE:

<figcaption> element along with our caption content.

<li>

<h3>Music</h3>

<span>By Neil Pearce</span>

<a href="#"class="btn_hover">Take me there</ a>

</figcaption>

</figure>

</li>

<li>

<h3>Portfolio</h3>

<span>By Neil Pearce</span>

<a href="#" class="btn_hover">Take me there</a>

</figcaption>

</figure>

</li>

STEP 4: Finishing up the HTML

Let’s populate the next two list items with the same markup but making sure we change the <h3> tags with the appropriate heading and the image path. We’ve also created a class called ‘btn_hover’ that will be used to create a simple hover eff ect on a ‘take me here’ button.

STEP 5: Default CSS

In this step, we’ll create a new file and call it ‘default. css’ so we can set some default styles. Firstly we will add the ‘box-sizing’ CSS3 property and the ‘border-box’ value to every element. This will allow us to apply a natural box layout model to all elements and prevent any unnecessary overflows when using percentages.

STEP 6: Body styles

Let’s now set our font to 100% and then make sure all default padding and margins are set to zero. We then set our font style and colour, as well as the background to our document. Last of all, let’s give our links a default colour and make sure there’s no underline.

CODE:

body, html {

font-size: 100%;

padding: 0; margin: 0;

}

body {

font-family: Arial, sans-serif;

color: #aaaeb2;

background: #f1f1f1;

}

a {

color: #888;

text-decoration: none;

}

STEP 7: The grid

Now we’ll start working on our unordered list. In Step 2 we gave our list a class name of ‘grid’ and the idea is to have four boxes within a grid-like layout. The class ‘grid’ will work like a container or wrapper for the boxes. We then target our <li> items and give those a fixed width of 440px, making sure they are positioned relative to our grid.

CODE:

.grid {

padding: 20px 20px 100px 20px;

max-width: 1200px;

margin: 0 auto;

list-style: none;

text-align: center;

}

.grid li {

display: inline-block;

width: 440px;

margin: 0;

padding: 20px;

text-align: left;

position: relative;

}

STEP 8: The figure element

The <figure> element is intended to be used in conjunction with the <figcaption> element to mark up photos, diagrams and code examples, just to name a few. We are going to use this to include our images, setting its position to relative and making sure its maximum width is set to 100%, ready for when we make this responsive.

CODE:

.grid figure {

margin: 0;

position: relative;

}

.grid figure img {

max-width: 100%;

display: block;

position: relative;

}

STEP 9: Styling the caption

Our caption is going to contain a title, some text (your name) and a simple button. We first set its position to absolute, so we can position it top-left and then give it some padding. We will then give the background a colour and make the text (your name) red. A little later on we will give the caption its height and width.

CODE:

.grid figcaption {

position: absolute;

top: 0;

left: 0;

padding: 20px;

background: #666666;

color: #ed4e6e;

}

STEP 10: Caption title

We’ve almost finished the caption by adding the styles to the title. We are going to make sure we clear any paddings or margins and then give it a colour of white by using the hexadecimal value of #ff f. You can also experiment by using a <h2> or a <h1>.

CODE:

.grid figcaption h3 {

margin: 0;

padding: 0;

color: #fff;

}

STEP 11: Caption button

In this step, let’s finish up our caption by adding in a button. The purpose of the button is to take the user to another page relating to that specific information. So, let’s make sure the text is centred and that we give the button some padding. The button will now resize depending on the amount of text you add in. Everything else should then be relatively straightforward.

CODE:

.grid figcaption a {

text-align: center;

padding: 5px 10px;

border-radius: 2px;

display: inline-block;

background: #31a7c4;

color: #fff;

}

STEP 12: Giving it perspective

To activate 3D space, an element needs perspective. There are two ways of doing this in CSS, but we will use the ‘perspective’ property. The value of the ‘perspective’ property determines the intensity of the 3D effect and the ‘perspective-origin’ property allows you to change the bottom position of the 3D element. Do have a play around with these values to see for yourself.

CODE:

.ca-style li {

-webkit-perspective: 1900px;

-moz-perspective: 1900px;

perspective: 1900px;

-webkit-perspective-origin: 0 50%;

-moz-perspective-origin: 0 50%;

perspective-origin: 0 50%; }

STEP 13: Transform-style property

When the ‘transform-style’ property is applied to an element, it determines if that element’s children are positioned in 3D space, or flattened. The default value is ‘flat’ but we want to make sure we tell the browser that we are working in 3D. This is done relatively easily by using the ‘preserve-3d’ value. After that, we’ll make sure that anything that is overflowing is hidden.

CODE:

.ca-style figure {

-webkit-transform-style: preserve-3d;

-moz-transform-style: preserve-3d;

transform-style: preserve-3d;

}

.ca-style figure > div {

overflow: hidden;

}

STEP 14: Animating images

Next up would be to animate the images when our caption moves across. Here we can easily do that by using the ‘translateX’ value. The ‘X’ means this will move on the horizontal ‘X’ axis, from left to right. So, if we were to set this a negative value (-25%) then it would move left. In this case, we only want it to move 25% of the parent’s width over to the right, so we use the following code.

CODE:

.ca-style figure:hover img

{

-webkit-transform: translateX(25%);

-moz-transform: translateX(25%);

-ms-transform: translateX(25%);

transform: translateX(25%);

}

STEP 15: Caption Visibility

Let’s set the height and width of our caption and make sure we can’t see it by setting the opacity to zero. With 3D transforms, you can rotate an element, so what we would think of as the front, no longer faces the screen. We can accomplish this by using ‘backface-visibility: hidden;’ then set its origin to the left side.

CODE:

.ca-style figcaption {

height: 100%;

width: 50%;

opacity: 0;

-webkit-backface-visibility: hidden;

-moz-backface-visibility: hidden;

backface-visibility: hidden;

-webkit-transform-origin: 0 0;

-moz-transform-origin: 0 0;

transform-origin: 0 0;

STEP 16: Backflip The Caption

Now let’s rotate the caption backwards by 90 degrees on the Y-axis, which will make it be flipped towards us. We are then going to set the speed at which it will return back, by using ‘transform 0.4s’ and ‘opacity 0.1s 0.3s’. The next step is where we make all this magic happen by creating a hover state.

CODE:

-webkit-transform: rotateY(-90deg);

-moz-transform: rotateY(-90deg);

transform: rotateY(-90deg);

-webkit-transition: -webkit-transform 0.4s, opacity 0.1s 0.3s;

-moz-transition: -moz-transform 0.4s, opacity 0.1s 0.3s;

transition: transform 0.4s, opacity 0.1s 0.3s;

}

STEP 17: Flipping The Caption

Without the hover state, none of the CSS we wrote in the last step would mean anything, as the caption hasn’t flipped forward yet – let’s deal with that now. When the cursor hovers over, we want our caption to become visible by setting the opacity to ‘1’ and then rotate forward by 90 degrees at the same speed we set in the last step.

STEP 18: Position the button

Let’s position our ‘Take me there’ button within our caption. Because we positioned the <figure> element as relative, the button can now be positioned anywhere within the caption using ‘position: absolute’. We can position it 20px from the bottom and 20px from the right.

CODE:

.ca-style figcaption a {

position: absolute;

bottom: 20px;

right: 20px;

}

STEP 19: Button hover state

We can finish off our button by giving it a nice transition. So on hover the button element is rotated(transitioned) from its default colour to a lighter colour, over two seconds and ‘all’ of its properties can be altered during the transition. After that we can use ‘ease in’ to make a smoother transition.

CODE:

.btn_hover:hover {

background: #3fc7e8;

-webkit-transition: all 0.2s ease-in;

-moz-transition: all 0.2s ease-in;

-o-transition: all 0.2s ease-in;

}

STEP 20: Responsive grid

We are now going to think about mobile devices and add some media queries to make our grid responsive. We will point to our ‘grid’ class and then set the maximum width to 31.5em. Following this, we want to make sure we have enough padding all around.

CODE:

@media screen and (max-width: 31.5em) {

.grid {

padding: 10px 10px 50px 10px;

}

STEP 21: Responsive images

Now that we have made the containing grid responsive, let’s do the same with our images. We need to target all the ‘li’ items within our grid and set their widths to 100%. After that, we make sure we set a minimum width to 300px. Any less would make the images look too small and vice versa.

CODE:

.grid li {

width: 100%;

min-width: 300px;

}

STEP 22: Conclusion

Creating animations with CSS3 takes a little bit of time to get your head around, especially when using the 3D properties and values. So, with that in mind, be sure to experiment and see what animations you can achieve through using these new and exciting CSS features.

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