For this Hacking UI Site of the Week we spoke with Kévin Lagier about his brand new portfolio .
Hey Kevin, tell us a little bit about yourself?
Hey guys, I come from Annecy, in south-eastern France, and I’m currently living in Paris. I study at Hetic, a school specialized in web professions.
What were you trying to achieve with the new portfolio?
The purpose of my website is to expose my different projects. I chose to describe the conception and the utility of my projects rather than the different tasks I handled on each of them. I also created this website to get contacts and find an internship, hence my choice to put all the necessary information to contact me on the homepage.
Did you do the entire site yourself?
This website was created by a team of two : Florentin Monteil and myself. I took charge of the conception part and the web design, thanks to the good knowledge I have of HTML and CSS. I have few skills in JS but I wasn’t good enough to do exactly what I wanted. This is why Florentin helped me. Florentin handled the Javascript, allowing for the routing, transitions and animations on the site. Without him, none of this could have been possible. I think it is necessary for every designer to have developer skills because you need to know what it is possible to do or not. That is why I try hard to improve myself in this field.
Did you guys use any tools for collaboration?
We used Github and Trello.
Did you execute any UI processes before designing?
I usually start a conception phase through wireframing before starting to design. It is an essential step when you work within a team or for a client to come to an agreement on the process and the different point of views you may have. But, for the achievement of my portfolio, there was no conception phase because it was my own idea. I totally knew what I wanted so I was free to do it my way.
What tools did you use for design?
To create this site, I used Photoshop to design the fixed images and Illustrator for the vector images. A lot of the images on my site are SVG, which I think is the best format for the web.
Did you conduct any user testing?
I tested the site on different computers of my classmates and checked the rendering on many different devices. They also gave me feedback on the site. The way they browsed it and their feelings about the UX and the UI. I know my site lacks in ergonomics but I think the audience I have is used to this kind of browsing.
Where did you get the inspiration for your work?
I browse the Internet every day and check many design blogs like AWWWARDS, FWA, Behance, and Dribbble. I keep myself updated on new technologies and new tools. I also get inspiration from big agencies’ creations. Two websites truly inspired me for my portfolio: Blacknegative and Fantasy Interactive. I totally love the way they present their creations.
What was the biggest challenge you faced with the site?
I wanted that for the presentation of each project the user could immerse himself in the atmosphere of the project, hence my choice to adapt the universe for each page.
What are you most proud of about the finished product?
I’m pretty proud of the homepage of the project which was been done with 100% pure CSS. It took a really long time to animate all the planets and to code all the key frames, but I’m really satisfied with the result.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with the readers about your site?
During my first internship at Felix Creation, a designer suggested to me to design the parts of the site one after the other, and as long as the page I’m working on isn’t perfect, I shouldn’t start the next one. This is now how I work and this is a piece of advice I give to design beginners.
Thanks a lot Kevin!
Check out the site, and let us know what you think. If you have any more questions for Kevin you can post them in the comments below.
You can also find him on Twitter, LinkedIn, Dribble and Behance.
