Olivia did a great job of changing the original WordPress template and ma
king it her own. She has a clear, easy to find menu labeled, “explore,” “portfolio,” “blog,” and “about.” In the “explore” page, it would be good to change the link labeled “projects” to “portfolio” since it goes to the portfolio page. I would get rid of the “recent posts” link as well as “archives” since these are features more associated with blogs instead of websites. It may also be good to categorize the “portfolio” tab into classes or types of programs like “Illustrator” and “Photoshop.” I would also consider moving the “about” tab beneath the “explore” tab since viewers usually like to know about the person before viewing their work; also, this would also be good since the first thing on the main page is “about.” Changing this would keep the order consistent in the menu tab.
Olivia created her portfolio around WSU’s colors of crimson and grey. This looks really good and also shows how much she manipulated the original template. She also changed the color of the text to fit with her color scheme, while still choosing a color that was readable. One recommendation I have would be to change the font into a san-serif font. This would be more readable and make the site look more modern.
Olivia used hierarchy on her website especially on her main page where she displayed a picture of herself, then projects, and then her blog. This order makes since because it is in order of importance. In “The Principals Of Design,” John Lovett explains how contrast plays a big part in design. Olivia used this technique when she contrasted the crimson background against the white text background and then the black text. She also used repetition on her home page with the square pictures. I may consider adding one more picture associated with the “blog” link. You could find something online with a creative commons license or a picture that you took yourself.