Hi everyone, I'd love to hear some feedback on my portfolio if you have a minute :) www.shainabains.com
I base a majority of my work around fashion, beauty and lifestyle working a majority of the time in watercolour paints and black Indian Ink, using photoshop to tailer some pieces. Ultimately my aim is to start landing more consistent freelance work and so I'd love any feedback or advice regarding this and ways I can get my work seen by more people and the right people. As well as ways I could improve how I'm currently presenting my style of work. I'd also love to know if anyone has any other creative roles or suggestions that would be worth be exploring and developing skills in to further increase my chances of landing creative roles. Thank you!
Replies11
- @Mike McCoole Thank you Mike, I appreciate it.I'm unsure what you mean with regards to some illustrations taking the user through to the project and some not - was that on the.dots or my website? Might be a mistake that I've made when posting that I can then correct!Putting my work in mock ups sounds like a great idea, thank you for sending those brilliant examples across to give me a visual!I also wanted to ask what you meant by the forced justification of text? But other than that, thank you again for the feedback and pointing the following out for me to edit! :)
- @Robert James Hi Robert, thank you for your lovely feedback! I appreciate it a lot, especially before sending off my portfolio to different agencies. I also wanted to ask if you viewed my site from your phone or on your laptop? As I know my site via mobile isn't the best as I haven't worked on it much but also I know from a desktop pov still has a lot going on. Really like the carasoul and page layout you suggested too. Would you say it would be best to have one page on my website displaying my work rather than multiple eg: as is already with the client work/different sections for different styles of work? Thanks
- @Erika Mercado Hi Erika, thank you so much for your feedback! Something that I've noted down and will definitely be looking into! :)
- Lovely work Shaina, those watercolours are amazing.Feedback so far is solid but I was wondering why the Chanel Beauty illustrations takes the user through to the project (and the brief sentence with why you were inspired - which I love on porfolio sites) and some don't; like the Emilie Heathe images?Have you also considered placing some of your lovely work in mock-ups too as an extra visual; like packaging or window displays? These are always striking (check out the work of Miss Led- ML Studio and Natalie Lines as their work is unbelievable).Other minor things are different fonts (futura on some pages, DIN on others), forced justification of text and the absence of a footer (user could think images are still loading on the home page). Hope this helps :)
- Hey shaina - ur portfolio is brilliant! Love the watercolour work - the style is super original and really stylish whilst having a real retro appeal. My only feedback is I would feature more of your commercially led work right up front, agencies want to see variety and depth in your work so try and get the most compelling yet versatile work up front. For example your poster for the NYC event was buried in a project - it is fantastic, it should be up front. Also the site felt a bit cluttered, less is more -) , try have a carousel with your best stuff first and then project work below etc. Great work though!!!!!!!
- your work is beautiful ! also think about event agencies who work with beauty brands. they are always creating custom menus, displays, websites, etc.
- @shaina bains contact smaller studios/agencies where they could use your style of work i.e. packaging, editorial, campaign etcWhen it comes to agencies it’s like X Factor
- @Dana Cooper Hi Dana, thank you for taking the time to check it out! I understand what you mean completely, I just find it so hard to narrow down my pieces to a few select so opted for a portfolio style that I've seen other fashion illustrators use! But perhaps for my homepage this is something for me to consider. Likewise it was a pleasure looking at your wesbite, really pretty, clear and easy to navigate around :)
- @Luke Freeman Hi Luke, thank you so much for taking the time to check it out! I'm glad you liked my portfolio and can see my style of work developing - I've found it difficult at times to figure out what box my style fits in to but then again I suppose that isn't a bad thing. After a few years of going at it alone I also feel that finding an agency is the next move I need to make! Would you say that its best to start with finding an agency rather than directly emailing design studios?
- Hi there, I think it's great, the only thing I woul do is feature one or two of your fabulous illos on each page, it looks a bit buys, cluttered, beautiful work!
- Firs off the portfolio is ace, straight to the point allowing me to stay on one page. Your next move is to find an agency that works with illustrators and type artists that you could send your portfolio to. Help find design studios may need your style of work for certain projects.I can see your work developing in the future with right direction and projects.
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