Portfolio And Blog Of Jeff Sarmiento

Toronto based web designer Jeff Sarmiento’s site is pretty simple. A blog, a little bit of background information, and an archive of his design work. He’s not a freelancer, so he’s not using the site to directly pitch for work, it’s merely a showcase of his skills and a useful online presence.

The sites biggest strength is how it achieves a vintage feel while retaining a really clean and modern feel. The style hints at a kind of 1920s sci-fi mood, think something like Metropolis, with great use of color and a very bold rocket ship image giving the header a real punch. The main content has a really subtly distressed background, with a heavily contrasted sidebar.I particularly like the way the latest tweet is highlighted in the sidebar.

It’s a site where the little touches have a hugely positive impact. The font selection seems perfect; ITC Avant Garde Gothic Medium has a really clean look that’s easy to read and attractive, and contrasts well with some minor use of the more handwritten Bruno JBStd. The use of shadowing bumps up the impact of the main content section, and Jeff hasn’t been afraid to use more white space than usual. It gives the site a really accessible feel.

He’s also incorporated some nice functionality and added interest. The flickr feed on the front page is subtle but really well integrated. The slight differences in mouseover for the navigation menu demonstrate an attention to detail, while his work portfolio is presented in an attractive and welcoming way.

Would I Change Anything?

I’d try to address some of the minor validation errors on the site. Though in truth these all appear to be generated by the flickr feed, so it may be that it’s something that can’t be changed. An example I think of taking the benefit of a nice site addition without worrying too much about the W3 accessibility checklist.

I was trying to decide whether I’d center the site, which is currently left aligned. The alignment means that the small wallpaper border is subtle rather than overwhelming, and it also means the dark gray sidebar is highlighted even more effectively. Hmmm, not sure, I think Jeff probably made the right decision.

Other than that, the only thing I’d do with such a great site is keep it updated (though judging by some of the back posts and his Twitter feed, he might have been getting sidetracked by minor issues like getting married!).

What Do You Wish You’d Designed?

Interested in showcasing a site that you wish you could take credit for, and what’s great about it? I’d be happy to welcome any submissions for the “I Wish I’d Designed…” series, just email robin@fogofeternity.com.

Rather than put together a list of this week’s nice looking sites, I thought I’d focus on a site that I wish I’d done myself. I kind of hope this might be something that others can contribute to in the future.

The Dollar Dreadful Family Library

I’m a big fan of vintage design styles. From 50s retro to Victoriana , they’re tough to achieve in a digital medium, but when done well they really stand out. Great design in a 19th century style is particularly rare, which is one of the reasons why The Dollar Dreadful Family Library is so fantastic.

It’s an incredibly simple site. Really it’s just a page, mirroring almost perfectly the look and feel of a 19th century newspaper. The site sells short stories in PDF form, with a short preview of each story acting as a link on the front page.

The designers have obviously taken great care in their design. The graphics, headers, borders and typefaces are all chosen in a way that complement each other perfectly. The source code is simple and elegant, entirely tableless and fast to load. The page content and language is also clearly tailored to maintain the Victorian style façade.

Would I Change Anything?

Not really. I’d address the few validation errors (housekeeping for the source code, rather than significant problems). Other than that the site is entirely fit for purpose.

I’d love to design something like this that offers more flexibility in its content. The Dollar Dreadful has static content, so they can be a lot more specific in their layout without worrying about things breaking. To achieve a design like this for a blog, or any site with more dynamic content and variable information, would be brilliant.

What Do You Wish You’d Designed?

As I said, this is something that I’m interesting in turning into an irregular series on the site. If there’s any site you really wish had been your work, that you’d like to highlight, then drop me a line at robin@fogofeternity.com.