first year 'blog-folio's (again)

Erin and I were talking the other night on the phone about some of the first-year blog-folio's. Each student has a blog / site to serve as a digital portfolio- we've talked about it before. Either way, they've all used this blogger service that we also use, and while it's wonderful for the simple kind of stuff we do, the templates are really easy to spot. Erin and I came up with this image, but knowing us, it probably won't last long as the header for our page- we'll figure something else out eventually.

While were talking on the phone, we discussed how nice it is to see the pages that have been created and designed. It is extremely easy to use a template, type in "Kelley's Blog" and be done with it. However, just the same as a portfolio is the first impression to anyone looking through it and should be treated as your work just the same as the work it is actually showcasing (thank you erica) the website serves the same purpose. To anyone who visits those pages, they instantly see the background of the page. Eventually they'll look at your work and the text around there, but the page is the first impression and should count that much, as well.

Here are some of the pages I just saw and really liked, for one reason or another:

James Leath: page is pretty plain, which could be okay- especially if he were to come up with his own header graphic. The artwork is wonderful and should be on a page of the same caliber.

Katrina Fischer: again, page is pretty simple- chose to use a color in the background, in contrast with most of her classmates that chose white (surprise, surprise). I really like the title of the page- 'it starts with a single line...' - is a good one. She also does a nice job with the photography of her work and seems to provide almost every angle of every piece. A graphic would be a great way to finish the header of that page instead of the standard font text they give you.

Kevin Lahti: Finally- a drawing with some color to it! In i.arc, somehow you gain the impression that color is evil and to avoid it like the plague- probably because using any kind of color only increases the number of questions you'll be slammed with in your interrogation- I mean critique. This guy took suzanne's approach and did a little bit of digital-rendering. Wonderful. I like the page a lot.

Liz Brown: love love love this site. I love that she drew / created her own header, and I love the white background here, and I love that the first entry I see is called 'goofing off' and is about playing with a kaleidescope! So wonderfully done!