Site Info

Elliot Jay Stocks

Elliot Jay Stocks

June 30th, 2009 Category: Redesign

13 comments to “Elliot Jay Stocks”

  1. Dan Says:
    June 30th, 2009 at 4:24 am

    For such a celebrated web designer, Elliot’s new site is really quite dreadful.

    It feels like it was thrown together in minutes, and is much more about technique over style/usability/feel.

  2. Harmen Says:
    June 30th, 2009 at 5:11 am

    Nice search field :]

  3. JR Says:
    June 30th, 2009 at 6:31 am

    @Dan I agree. I expected so much, and if I’m honest, I was left quite underwhelmed. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one.

    It’s got great asymmetry, and the parallax effect is nice and subtle (but remains what it truly is - a gimmick) but it’s worth noting the site was very much designed for CSS3 browsers like Safari 4/FF 3.5, where @font-face is supported. However, I’m on FF 3.5 and I’m still seeing the basic Georgia. Further, I can’t help but think the use of basic Georgia is worlds apart from the intended GraublauWeb as seen on Safari 4. Perhaps this is why I felt ‘meh’ when I first saw the site?

    And yes, the search bar/comment fields are massive. Great… Otherwise , though good, it’s not what I expected from such a big name in the industry.

  4. CE Says:
    June 30th, 2009 at 9:07 am

    I feel I had to comment here about the design. I think it easy to forget that designing your own portfolio site is incredibly difficult. There is a very fine balance between creating something that you like or designers will like, and then something your clients will like. When you are designing a site for a client obviously it is for their audience. This rule has to apply when essentially you are the client.

    Personally I agree with previous comments this design does leave me slightly underwhelmed. HOWEVER it showcases his work brilliantly and more importantly will not alienate non-design savvy clients. Looking through his portfolio there is a range of work – corporate, commercial, the list is endless. Therefore choosing one style to go with on his portfolio design would be unbeneficial to his future job prospects and career. His work showcases what an amazing designer he is he doesn’t need to produce an over developed site in which to show this.

    No use flogging a dead horse as they say.

    Hope this makes sense and is not an incoherent mess!

  5. Zach Says:
    June 30th, 2009 at 10:46 am

    I actually like this site. My ocd kicks in with the images that aren’t structured and all sized the same, like in the banner picture up there for example, but otherwise I don’t think it’s a bad site by any means. The guy is a celebrated professional and knows what he’s doing. It seems to me that he’s past the point of having to jack up his site with crazy graphics and effects to impress clients, and lets his work speak for itself.

  6. Sean Says:
    July 2nd, 2009 at 5:15 am

    I don’t like the design. It’s awful. Elliot is obviously more of a developer than a designer.

  7. David Perel Says:
    July 2nd, 2009 at 1:47 pm

    @Sean - Nope he is more of a designer….

  8. mia Says:
    July 2nd, 2009 at 5:11 pm

    The site looks and works bad in Opera 10 beta…

  9. David Perel Says:
    July 3rd, 2009 at 10:19 am

    @mia - Opera 10 Beta… are you serious?

  10. Justin Says:
    July 3rd, 2009 at 11:12 pm

    I, too, was let down a bit by this redesign. There are definitely elements I enjoy, but feel there are areas that were simply rushed. The portfolio, for instance, could have been structured better. A more considered use of anchor tags would have gone a long way. Even “next” and “previous” buttons were left out of portfolio detail pages so users have to hit back just to see another portfolio piece. Maybe there was an issue with setting up the entire site in Wordpress that disallowed for some of these simple usability aids, but still somewhat of a bummer.

  11. DanC Says:
    July 4th, 2009 at 10:36 am

    @justin - there is nothing about wordpress that would mean that these links would be excluded, infact using wordpress as a portfolio site makes these types of things easier on the whole.

    I’m sure elliot has chosen this for very valid reasons due to the high quality of work he produces.

    I like the site as a whole, good use of texture and the border round the window works really well.

  12. Armig Esfahani Says:
    July 6th, 2009 at 8:54 am

    hmmm i’ve read some of the above but i’m not so much experienced.. I just liked the design but i don’t know the previous designs..

  13. mia Says:
    July 15th, 2009 at 10:05 am

    @David; Did I say something wrong?? :)

Post your comments

Design Jobs on the Wall

See all Design Jobs