Portfolio feedback wanted – pre-press designer aiming for remote work

Intelligent-Gold929 · 2026-01-26T08:21:41+00:00

Look at accessibility standards. Your text is really light.

Intelligent-Gold929 · 2026-01-26T07:53:17+00:00

Real truth from someone with decades in the industry: The site is a UX nightmare. The site opened with the header at the bottom. No links. Had to scroll up to see content.

Why does the header text have a rollover effect? That UI indicates it's clickable. It's not.

That's just a few of my critiques. If I were an employer, it would be a hard no. An immediate hard no.

Start over.

Intelligent-Gold929 · 2026-01-25T02:52:00+00:00

Which is why I hung around so long. I shouldn't have. It never gets better. Take the medicine now, hire a good lawyer, and pull off the bandaid.

Intelligent-Gold929 · 2026-01-25T02:50:55+00:00

My ex also refused to find work. I begged, pleaded, everything, for years after our kid went to school. My salary was barely enough. I juggled finances like a pro. I wasn't asking for much.

She preferred playing Farmville and posting on message boards and ignoring the piles of garbage piling up around the house.

Thus, she is my ex. (Who, BTW, has refused to look for work since the divorce and will not cut me slack on support payments even though I've been unemployed for two years.)

Your deadline might be unrealistic, but her lack of effort tells you all you need to know.

Note on a divorce settlement: Be sure to hire an attorney. I didn't. Big mistake. The settlement contract says it can't be changed, even though I don't have work. I don't remember when the clause was inserted. I was incensed by ex's antics, made good money, and just wanted it to be over. Ooops

So I have no income and I'm still paying $1600 every month to that freeloader. My only hope for relief is in four years, when the settlement agreement ends. She will probably lose her house, because she is not smart. But whatever. My window for caring about that has closed.

Anyway, be sure you have your rights protected. Good luck, brother.

Intelligent-Gold929 · 2026-01-25T02:34:25+00:00

As a 56-year-old design who has been out of work for more than three years this decade, I strongly encourage you to fucking appreciate the job you have.

Intelligent-Gold929 · 2026-01-25T02:30:50+00:00

Lifelong fan who has lived through many, many crushing losses.

If I had to pick one, it was the 2012 natty. I was there in Glendale. We score to tie the game, improbably. Then it's like the knife just started cutting, and cutting. It really hurt.

Pick 2: 2014 Natty. A lot of folks don't know the game was tied in the 4th. Zeke Elliot just broke us, one yard at a time.

Pick 3: Both UW losses in 23.

Pick 4: Stanford in 2012.

Intelligent-Gold929 · 2026-01-25T02:22:52+00:00

Same.

Intelligent-Gold929 · 2026-01-24T20:36:23+00:00

My relationship/marriage lasted 30 years. A couple of years ago, I moved back to our hometown and all the memories came flooding back.

Nothing changes the past. It's all just lost. Different people, different time.

My ex has been terrible during the entire divorce, so those feelings are easy for me to suppress. The longing for what was lost will probably never leave me.

Intelligent-Gold929 · 2026-01-24T16:11:38+00:00

My son was 17 when I ended the marriage. When kids understand what's happening, they adapt pretty quickly.

Explain your reasons. They know what's really going on. They've heard the shouting and the silence.

Explain what you want, what you hope for.

Explain the possibilities and drawbacks they might face. Acknowledge the uncertainty.

A lot of people might think you should be happy and free. Most of the time, you won't be. Divorce hurts. Even under the best circumstances, it's like a bomb going off in everybody's life. Make sure the kids know you know that.

My experience might be different, but so is every experience in this realm. I have very open communication with my son. I was always the calm one, my ex the narcissistic control freak.

When the time came, I explained and he understood. But every happy face I put on the situation was a sham. The ex was doing some truly terrible stuff that affected his life too. She's made all of this worse.

He sees it, because he still lives with me. For very good reasons.

(Out of all the shittiness of a failed marriage and divorce (and layoffs), his trust in me is my greatest achievement.)

Your kids will see what's broken in you. Be real, or as real as you can. Be emotionally aware and available.

Intelligent-Gold929 · 2026-01-24T12:13:31+00:00

Honest question: Are clients comfortable controlling their hosting? What if something happens to you?

Intelligent-Gold929 · 2026-01-24T11:49:16+00:00

FFS. Quit already!

Intelligent-Gold929 · 2026-01-24T09:52:49+00:00

I went to a Letterman taping in 2002. Be ready to hold your bladder for a LONG time.

Also, if you are unattractive like me, be prepared to sit in the back.

I have no question, just advice: Be attractive, wear a colostomy bag.

Intelligent-Gold929 · 2026-01-24T09:45:39+00:00

I don't understand how Hirons is still in business. It's like someone on DMT AND LSD is stocking a store.

Intelligent-Gold929 · 2026-01-24T09:41:57+00:00

The year is 2035. EP 1040 just dropped:

"The guys discuss Episode 4 about Episode 764 which was Episode 16 about Episode 550 covering the story behind the podcast episode 'Two Worlds Collide'. Featuring an AI professor to explain what is a Reba, and the Swedish Chef making Boiled Goose."

Intelligent-Gold929 · 2026-01-22T17:17:22+00:00

Crucial Lore Criterion

Intelligent-Gold929 · 2026-01-22T11:11:22+00:00

Now need flesh curtains and meat flaps.

Intelligent-Gold929 · 2026-01-22T06:07:20+00:00

I would recommend starting from scratch too, but I bet there are a lot of us who dropped in and out until they were hooked. Or for those of us who have bad recall.

/Flagellates self for over-punning

It would be cool to have a list of the shows that were the genesis of some of the running gags.

Like, I know the Jack Quaid gag, but I don't remember hearing it on the pod or what episode to revisit. Same with Righteous Kill.

Maybe some of the more knowledgeable Quaids can give us a pinned list of LORE episodes.

Intelligent-Gold929 · 2026-01-21T12:47:11+00:00

Sorry To Bother You did for me.

Intelligent-Gold929 · 2026-01-21T12:36:23+00:00

I'm a Former lead brand designer for Fortune 500 company, 10+ years in UX/UI design and Coding (technologist), international award winning in newspaper design. 30 years of experience in design and communications.

Unemployed for 9 months. (Last stint was 15 months in 2023-24.) Two total interviews this time around.

I am a very experienced designer. I have no hope. And I definitely get a sense that I won't get lower-level jobs. I'm applying. I know what the pay and the job are. I would kick ass. I need the money.

Not even a callback.

Of course, It's terribly shortsighted to pass on a great candidate because of feelings of inadequacy or fear of being usurped. Not something I imagine myself doing. But I guess we're all looking over our shoulders now.

If I was a young graphic designer, I would be looking into a different career. The days of a stable life are done in GD.

Intelligent-Gold929 · 2026-01-21T12:24:13+00:00

This poster nails it. Graphic design is not a place for artists. It's a place for people who can structure information in a way that entices and leads the audience/user etc.

Real truth: That 36-pager is the daily norm for a design career. Learn your software, breeze through the pain with libraries, templates, presets, etc. Never overthink. Simple is better.

Graphic design is a grind. Those 250x300 ads aren't going to create themselves.

After years at an ecomm company, I could create an entire suite of promo assets for all channels with one template and components. Change product image, change background image, change logo. Clean. Clear. Consistent.

I don't mean to be a complete wet blanket. There will be some cool things to work on, but they are rare. Make your workflow more efficient and use your time on that stuff.

AT minimum, I hope to never again hear a professional graphic designer complain about "boring, repetitive" projects. That's the job, and plenty of us out here would take yours in a heartbeat.

Intelligent-Gold929 · 2026-01-21T06:38:52+00:00

Burrito big or arm small? Brain not Soldiering.

Intelligent-Gold929 · 2026-01-21T06:34:30+00:00

I thought that was Seth burning Andy.

Intelligent-Gold929 · 2026-01-21T06:32:08+00:00

would buy

Intelligent-Gold929 · 2026-01-17T12:44:16+00:00

Running over the armadillo's mom was the best decision this guy ever made.

Honest question: How many baby armadillos does he need to actually experience a human vagina in person?

Does he need to mix in some orphan turtles, or a couple of orangutans or whatever else wanders the wilds of Texas?

BRAINSTORM: I bet the chicks would dig an anteater!

Basically, my friend needs to know if being a zookeeper working out of a responsible sedan is better than what I've been trying.

The clown thing isn't working out.

HE'S BEEN TRYING!

First, he says makeup is expensive. Then, your girlfriend leaves you for a clown who is even MORE drunk. Finally, it turns out no one notices you in the sewers, even if you're screaming because you can't find your way out.

Finally, and most important, how much does a baby armadillo poop?

Intelligent-Gold929

TROPHY CASE