PPP: Making my Website

To make my website, I decided to use Cargo Collective. Cargo Collective has an extensive range of templates that are very versatile I can use to create my website as I don't know how to code. The site also kind of specialises to be more like a portfolio website which is why is think it is the most appropriate for e. Also, I like the clean designs for the template which matches the aesthetic for the personal branding that I am looking for. I am also quite familiar with the website already as I have found several designers through the website from my previous researches.  

Information on the website:

• project info - descriptive copy of each project showing the concept/design
• Contact Info - Instagram, number, email

Out of the templates available, I have chosen to use this template:

• The template is quite dynamic in a way that it utilises a more irregular grid format for the photographs giving it a very playful looks, as well as a click and zoom function to let users zoom further into certain photographs for better view. It can also be used to showcase more important photographs in bigger more eye-catching formats. 
• It has an infinite scroll function allowing the users to automatically navigate the website without much needing for it to load or click too many pages into. 
• Although the type is sans serif, it can be changed to a serif type during the design process to fit more of the personal branding that I have started to establish. 

Upon using the template to start creating my website at first it was fairly easy and I could change colours, typefaces and content easily as it is easily navigable. It offers a range of options as well making it easier for me to change certain things to fit what I wanted. 

However, the more I played around with the template, the more I felt that it wasn't really highlighting the projects well and did not match the functions that I had in mine.

What I didn't like about it is that:

• The irregular griding made it hard for me to place certain photographs where I wanted them to be placed. It also became quite annoying how when trying to change the photographs size that it would suddenly lock in place somewhere on the page - I also tried the free floating functions however, it wasn't as helpful either. 
• I realised that because the website relies on the infinite scrolling that that more project I have on it the more inconvenient it would be as users will have to continue navigating through photos - therefore it wasn't appropriate to the sue that I wanted anymore. 
• The template was also more minimal than I thought - altho in a sense that it had less functions it it than I wanted. But, it did make me learn more about other functions that I can add to the template like adding link functions and adding and stacking pages giving me more knowledge on how to use the website, but other than that it was overall very inconvenient to use and was not exactly what I wanted for my website.

What did I like about it though:

• I like how it's minimal in the sense that the website looks sleek and clean. It gives it a modern look but also not chaotic or too boring for users to feel bored or disorientated looking through the website. The minimalism is highly functional and saves the users time clicking and navigating through unnecessary things on the website.
• Is that it made me rethink my visual branding a bit - as I tried using a serif typeface on it, it gave quite old time feel and was quite out of place with all the minimal design which was something that I liked. Therefore I decided to use the sans serif typeface within the template instead. 
• As I develop the website more, the visuals of my personal branding may change depending on how effectively the website can reflect the characteristic that I want to portray.