Evan 'Wail' Whiting - Level Design

[Wail]

Hey,

Recently been working on putting together a good looking portfolio. Hoping I can get some comments and critiques on the portfolio and works.

http://www.evanwhiting.com/portfolio

Right now I don't have an About/Resume up, I'm aware that's missing and am working on it currently.

Edited August 23, 2013 by Wail

[sarge mat]

Maps look really nice and interesting. Design is clean and simple to use. As you say an about page is all it needs really with a Resume. Not sure about your url though, having suicide in it might be a flag for some people.

[Puddy]

Yes, suicide is a huge no-no.

Your website is about selling you.

Putting "suicide" in the mix is just bad PR imho.

[Wail]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Not quite sure what to do on the "Suicide" front - It's my in-game handle and pretty much everything I've done game-dev wise is released under that name. It's also the only thing that distinguishes a Google search for me from a google search for any number of bands/Arab guys/whatever.

Maybe I will think about grabbing another domain name specifically for the portfolio.

[Mazy]

I have to agree with what the others said, I think the "Suicide" name does drag it down a bit. Apart from that then I think it's a pretty good site and portfolio, but I'd at least add an email address to it (couldn't find one).

EDIT: Just saw the mail, but it did seem like a well kept secret. Make it a link and have it colored different I'd say.

[Furyo]

You may be working on the assumption that your screen name online bears any significance in this industry, but in my experience nothing could be further from the truth. Recruiters know names they have worked with, and will look at your work through your portfolio, not through Google. The way you present you and your work dictates the future, not the way you did it in the past.

[sarge mat]

Hard to go wrong with youname.net/com etc . Looks so much better in my own opinion.

[Wail]

You may be working on the assumption that your screen name online bears any significance in this industry, but in my experience nothing could be further from the truth. Recruiters know names they have worked with, and will look at your work through your portfolio, not through Google. The way you present you and your work dictates the future, not the way you did it in the past.

Good to know. I've been debating this over myself and I think I may put up the portfolio as a subdomain of my more general personal website/resume.

My main concern isn't truly about my game handle & consistency but just keeping non-game work that I've done separated from game development related stuff (but in a way that's still easy for potential employers to find me, etc. etc.). Mostly because people working outside the gaming-industry might have a negative prejudices towards someone who spends a lot of time playing / working on games, silly as that may be.

I also went ahead and added various email links down the page and have been working on an about page & trying to get the link up at the top to work as a mailto link.

I've also been thinking about adding a lightbox feature for viewing the larger-size images: Does anyone have any thoughts on the use of lightboxes?

[Serenius]

Mostly because people working outside the gaming-industry might have a negative prejudices towards someone who spends a lot of time playing / working on games, silly as that may be.

Who cares about what they think? Chances are they aren't Googling your name either.