10 Reasons Why Your Online Portfolio Sucks

Kyle Meyer of Astheria has an excellent post on why online portfolios just plain suck. He must be reading my mind, because I was just about to write about my intense hatred for online portfolios. Thankfully, Kyle’s saved me the trouble.

He’s combed 200 online portfolios to find these 7 common mistakes:

1. Bad navigation
2. Zoomed and cropped thumbnails
3. “Mystery meat” squares
4. No phone number
5. No email
6. No contact info of any kind
7. Background music

Amen, brother. I’d also add three more to Kyle’s list:

1. Flash animation
   You’ll overdo it, and it won’t work in every browser, so just say no.

2. No labels
   Is it a CD cover, a poster, a billboard? What is it!? I hate guessing, so label your work with clear basic information such as project name, media, and dimensions. Even better, put your work in a physical context.

3. No resumé
   You’re not just a collection pretty little images. I want to know what classes you’ve taken, where you’ve worked, and what makes you tick. Remember, you’re more than your portfolio. Give me a resumé or even just a short bio.

Click here for Kyle’s detailed findings.

To see some online portfolios that don’t suck, check out my round-up of one-page portfolios.

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