Researching ways to make my own portfolio has led me to great examples of web portfolio design. There’s a lot that are out of my league at this point with animations and flashiness, so I tried to find sites that I see as both functional and well designed. 

1. This is very unique, but still really clean. The sound effects seem to add something to the design. http://www.fa-d.com/index.html

2. Very classic, I like the way the symbols come into play for each of the sections. The over buttons are also a nice touch. http://www.area17.com/work

3. With only two colors and an animation, this one is still presents itself well. http://danjoedesign.com/

4. This is fun and kind of crazy, but I get it. I don’t even speak the language and I still understand how the website functions. http://snopp.no/portfolio/sms-radar

5. This one is very minimalist, but I think the grid makes it work. http://hovie.com/

6. Again very minimal, but here it presents that in itself as part of the brand. http://www.mac-design.org/

7. Stylish and a little funky, yet organized. http://www.rockatee.com/

8. I like the colors here and and the navigation at the top. http://yosoygil.com/about

9. Ok, so this one is pretty flashy, I wish I could do this… but check it out anyways. http://www.also-online.com/

10. I really like this one, especially the integration of the brackets. http://www.husani.com/

11. Not so applicable to us, but what a great way to display this interior design work. Brilliant. http://www.enricopellizzoni.com/

Flash animation can bring movement and interaction to design. Those pesky pop up ads aren’t fun to look at while they’re moving all over your screen, but you have to admit — they get  your attention. Here is ten different usages for flash. These web sites show how flash can enhance user interaction coupled with great design.

1. Click on the different categories to journey through “zunes” world. http://www.zunejourney.net/

2. This site is not only incredibly designed, but fun to interact with and click through.

3. This company website proves their creativity by showing what they’re all about. http://www.sensisoft.com/ The constantly changing background is a different twist.

4. While this was loading I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I realized they have created an external swf. to present their portfolio “under the sea” style. http://www.infinitcolours.com/

5. This graphic design artist decided to transform his portfolio page into a laboratory. http://www.arihirvonen.com/

6. Another portfolio site, but this time — in outer space. http://www.mattwiggins.net/

7. With flash, users have the ability to interact with objects on the screen. Here it is more like a game, but it’s a good example of the usability of flash.http://patterngame.com/linesuperfollow.swf

8. Any Jackson Pollock fans? This one is like the last, it lets the web user do something unique by interacting.

9. A graphic and web design company turns their web site into an outdoor scene: http://www.v5design.com/

10. Zign marketing — on an island. http://www.zign.com.br/

Here’s a thumbnail version of 1-10, or click here for the downloadable copy.

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There’s plenty of color inspiration sites out there, check them out: www.colourlovers.com, www.colorassociation.com, www.pantone.com.

1. Helvetica Neue. Based on it’s classic and popular original, Helvetica, Helvetica Neue offers a clean cut look and adds sophistication. Its many weights makes versatile, with 51 weights total.

2. Frutiger. The Neue version was recently released, too, but the original frutiger is still a classic. Its simplistic design makes it Linotype’s best selling typeface.

3. Interstate. Clean and simple. It has expanded into 40 fonts since its release in 1993 from Frere-Jones, everything from hairline to ultra black.

4. News Gothic. Popular for newspaper headlines, packaging and advertising, but still has a nice, clean style for common uses.

5. Univers. If you think it looks a lot like Frutiger – you’re right. Both designed by Adrian Frutiger, and both pretty genius.

6. Gotham. A newbie compared to some of the others on this list, but it manages to have a personality that’s familiar and a little edgy at the same time.

7. Optima. A bit of a pseudo sans serif, with its tapered strokes and humanistic style — but nevertheless, elegant and easy to read.

8. Myriad. We’ve all seen it before: it’s warm, comfortable and readable. Its variety of weights and widths it can be for both display and small text.

9. Gill Sans. Like Myriad, another Adobe classic that can be used legibly for text and display.

10. Meta. Again, you can’t go wrong.

If you just can’t stop looking at these well crafted typefaces, or want to buy them, check out fonts.com, Adobe fonts, LinoType, or Identifont. There’s plenty of other great types to choose from, but whatever you do, just stay away from Comic Sans.

The title is so, so appropriate.

What makes these posters great  is their simplicity in promoting what each movie is about. No one needs to see a million photo filtered images or over done typography treatments to decide if a movie is a must-see. These examples work to capture the themes of the movies, and give a glimpse of them in the form of a poster.

These, Not so much…

Ok, they aren’t that bad. I mean, I think they are pretty terrible, but it could be worse. See what I mean, by “too much”?