For me, this was an extremely difficult task. I am not great at really knowing my style because it is all over the place. I have a variety of items to make an extremely versatile portfolio, but I did not have a clear cut way of describing myself, let alone putting it all together in a website. The first thing to do was to really gather inspiration from other people who have completed the same task. What did I like? What did I not like? Another issue that I had was time. I know that it is not great to procrastinate but at the same time, there are other things going on. The creative process is hard to channel especially when your mind is pulled in other directions. Even though I had created a website outline, I knew that I was not really going to still 100% to the flow. That happens a lot when I design though. I start with an idea or foundation then it tends to transform into something completely different, especially when it is influenced by other ideas.
So I started with the default template given from BeTheme. I love this editor specifically for the builder that comes with it. I find the Muffin Builder easy to use and very user friendly opposed to others such as Wordpress’s Gutenberg Editor. I played around with many columns and many styles. These are sometimes difficult because you do have to CSS out the clears applied to the sides of the columns. I was able to design a simple look that takes advantage of space and show cases the artwork that I have created. I redesigned the look from the original plan because I did configure those pages and did not like it. Instead I looked at a Wix site that I came across and I like the logo part, but I wanted to keep it simple black and white. I took the header and made it more mine, then I decided to add extensively to the homepage. It was a little taste of everything that is displayed throughout the website itself.
Another piece that I was adamant on adding was the foundation for Mental Canvas. This is an organization created by me as a project in my Senior portfolio class. However, it has now jumped from an idea to a working concept. I have designed every part of this organization so far, but I am planning to make it a reality. It is a cause that I am extremely passionate about and it deserves more that just an idea on paper. The page is a little different from the rest of the site but it is still worth featuring until I make it into another site.
The final, and most difficult piece was organizing the portfolio section. The original plan was extensive and it was using the portfolio section located within Wordpress. However, I did not like the display options that the Muffin Builder offers when implementing the portfolio. Instead I went outside and found a free plugin that creates a simple gallery. The plugin is called FooGallery, and it allows you to have complete control over how you display your images and their order. Of course it does offer premium features that you can buy, but you do not need them. Then you can integrate this plugin with a Lightbox plugin called FooBox. It creates a nice display that allows the user to click on the image and expand it. The caption and title are displayed with the image. I put everything together, but that was a common design decision made by most designs currently. I believe that it will show that I can be up with the trends while still standing out.
I will say that this project was challenging due to the fact that I really had to make sure that I had all my items together and I really had to explore my design style. I know that I have always been simple, but I do use color. Here I did not want use color because it helps the work stand out and it helps Mental Canvas stand out. Altogether, I am glad that I have a site built with my portfolio and what I do.