Friday, March 27, 2020
3 Killer WordPress Portfolio Tweaks to Make Your Site Awesome
Plenty of professionals flock to WordPress due to its low learning curve and ample set of features. Its the perfect solution forà displaying your professional achievements ââ¬â that is, if you know how to use it. If youre not quite sure where to begin, lets talk about some killer WordPress portfolio tweaks!A great portfolio should meet three simple criteriaà ââ¬â it should put the focus on your work, introduce yourself to prospective clients, and remain simple to navigate. Fortunately, all three are easy to achieve when using WordPress.In this post, weve selected three live examples of stunning portfolios, and hereà well teach you how to replicate some of their design tricks. Lets dive in and look through these WordPress portfolio tweaks together:3 Killer WordPress Portfolio TweaksA.H.A. DesignA.H.A. Design is a London-based design company focusing on architecture, product design, and web design. Although we cant personally vouch for the quality of their work, their por tfolio caught our eye thanks to its unique style.What makes this portfolio stand out?A clean, uncluttered design.The subtle highlighting of the Shopà menu item.The use of circles throughout the entire site to highlight A.H.A. Designs past work.Lets elaborate a bit further on that last point. The first thing youll see on theà main page is a giant circle that showcasesà previous worksà ââ¬â the rest of the portfolio appears below as big circle blurbs, including simple hover animations.Another aspect that makes this design choice stand out is the monochromatic color scheme throughout the siteà ââ¬â the portfolio pieces are the only elements thatà have colors. This technique adheres to our rule about keeping the focus on your work. In fact, we like it so much well try to pull off a similar effect using our Zerif Pro theme as an example.WordPress Portfolio Tweaks #1: Use blurbs to showcase your workThe Zerif Pro theme enables you to replicate the effect weve just disc ussed using its Our Focusà widgets, as seen below in an example taken from theà live demo:After installing and activating the theme, we went into the live Customizer (check out this tutorial if youre rusty on how to use it) and modified the Our Focus widgets to display some example websites. To achieve this, we added some descriptive headers, removed theà four originalà widgets, and replaced them with some of our own:Notice the colored borders on each example? This is a simple hover animation coded into the Our Focus widgets by default!SocioDesignSocioDesign is another London-based design agency whose portfolio site piqued our attention due to its unique style. Lets review our favorite parts.What makes this portfolio stand out?A minimalistic design featuring eye-catching images of previous SocioDesignà works.Their simple layout, which keeps navigation easy.The use of an asymmetrical grid to display part of a portfolio on the homepage.WordPress Portfolio Tweaks #2: Use an a symmetrical grid system to make your work stand outImage grids are a rather conventional design element these days ââ¬â theyre efficient, but they can also get a bit monotonous. To change it up, designers sometimes break the mold a littleà by assigning different sizes to some of the images, such as the exampleà from the SocioDesign homepage (visible above).This serves two purposes ââ¬â it breaks the monotony of a regular grid, and also establishes a visual hierarchy. This means we automatically assign more importance to the largest section of the grid. If you want to create a portfolio on WordPress, this technique can help to guide attention towards the projects youre most proud of. We can replicate this effect using the Robo Gallery plugin: Image Gallery by Robo ââ¬â Responsive Photo Gallery Author(s): RoboSoftCurrent Version: 2.8.26Last Updated: August 26, 2019robo-gallery.2.8.26.zip 88%Ratings 1,036,554Downloads WP 3.3+Requires After activating the plugin, this instructional video on the developersà official YouTube channelà will guide you through the process of creating custom (asymmetrical) layouts. Once complete, you can insert your new gallery onto any page by utilizingà its corresponding shortcode.You can also insert galleries byà using the Add Robo Gallery button located above the WordPress editor. This enables you to select from all of the available options for creating your gallery, and will also add the shortcode for you:If you followed the custom layout tutorial we linked to above, the final result should look something like this (albeit with different images, of course):MethodFinally, we come toà Method. Theyreà a creative agency with an eclectic portfolio thats impossible to ignore. Lets check out its highlights below.What makes this portfolio stand out?The main header and the section below it on the homepage make great use of the CSS transform property to achieve some excellent effects.The header alsoà meld s with the navigation bar thanks to its simple color scheme to make a strong first impression.There are links to multiple case studies included on the first page.Theres a strong call to action at the bottom of the homepage to close the deal.WordPress Portfolio Tweaks #3: Use a simple color scheme and a full-width header to make a strong first impressionOur favorite aspect of the Method portfolio is the animated full-width header. Learning how to use the transform property to achieve similar effects is a complex subject, so well stick to creating a simple color scheme and implementing a full-width header using the Zerif Pro theme again.The Zerif Pro default template includes a full-width header section that we can use. Create a new page, select the default template from the Page Attributesà meta box, save the changes, thenà go into the live Customizer. Once here, choose the Big title section and customize its colors until they matchà your main menu:Now we have a clean ââ¬â albeit playful ââ¬â full-width header thatà shares a color palette with our menu, keeping things looking uncluttered.à Consider using a variation of this simple style the next time youre performing some WordPress portfolio tweaks!ConclusionAlong with a suitable theme, there are three basic criteriaà forà creating a portfolio on WordPress ââ¬â it should focus on your work, introduce yourself, and offerà simple navigation. Get all three right, and youll be well ahead of your competition.Consider implementing one or more of these three simple techniques when you beginà to create a portfolio on WordPress, and youll be hearing back from new clients in no time at all:Use blurbs to showcase your work.Implement a grid system to display your past projects.Combine a full-width header with a simple color scheme to make a lasting first impression.What do you think about having your portfolio built on WordPress? Do you have a portfolio of your own to share? Let us know in the comments section below.
Saturday, March 7, 2020
Analyse the methods Charlotte Bronte uses to make the reader empathise with Jane Eyre Essays
Analyse the methods Charlotte Bronte uses to make the reader empathise with Jane Eyre Essays Analyse the methods Charlotte Bronte uses to make the reader empathise with Jane Eyre Paper Analyse the methods Charlotte Bronte uses to make the reader empathise with Jane Eyre Paper this shows shes aware that shes further down in the family and she just shrugs it off. She just seems ignored and unwanted in the family, and she knows that theres nothing she can do so had learnt to live with it. John Reed looks for Jane Eyre, as she is hiding behind the curtain with her book. Jane Eyre and John Reed have totally opposite personalities, as Jane is the innocent type that would just shrug her shoulders and move on. Whereas John Reed is the type who thinks he is higher than everybody else and will bully any poor soul that would take it, for example Jane Eyre. Jane Eyre gives a long description about him; giving the reader an impression that he is fat, and not the nicest looking child, . Large and stout for his age, with a dingy and unwholesome skin; thick lineaments in a spacious visage, heavy limbs and large extremities. Jane Eyre and John Reed do not get on at all as he is horrible to her, as Jane tells us how terrified of him she is, for example every nerve I had feared him, and every morsel of flesh in my bones shrank when he came near. There were moments when I was bewildered by the terror he aspired. The servants knew how John Reed was to poor Jane Eyre, but did not dare say anything to their young master as Jane tells us; the servants did not like to offend their young master by taking my part against him, and Mrs reed was blind and death of the subject: Jane Eyre seems to be being sarcastic about her aunt being blind and death, maybe because she doesnt want to say anything as it shows that she would be sticking up for Jane Eyre, so ignores it and pretends shes not seen anything. For an example of how master John Reed talks to Jane Eyre, and for the look you had in your eyes two minutes since, you rat! this is not a very nice way to talk to someone, and the word rat is usually associated wi th the words disgusting, dirty, vermin, diseases and scavenger and for a child to say that to another is not a very nice thing to do. John Reed is a very demanding child as he was asking her questions like what were you doing behind the curtain? and Jane answers really honestly I was reading she just gave a simple answer as she is scared of him so wont dare be cheeky to him. Show the book he replies, making the reader feel empathy for her as he is being so demanding towards her but she just takes it and hands over the book. You ought to beg, and not to live here with gentlemens children like us, and this shows the reader that Jane is unwanted in the family, especially by John Reed. It shows that shes really low down in the family and you cant get any lower han being a homeless beggar, thats how low John Reed thinks of her. Then he goes on to talk about the house going to be his, this shows that he hasnt a care in the world, even about his mum, as the house will be his when his mother dies. He says all the house belongs to me, or will do in a few years. So suspects his mum will be dead in a few years time. Charlotte Bronte uses several acts of violence to create suspense and mystery in the novel, as Jane Eyre gets a book thrown at her, as it says in the novel; I saw him lift and poise the book and stand in act to hurl it t hit me, and I fell, striking my head against the door and cutting it. The cut bled, the pain was sharp: my terror had passed its climax; other feelings succeeded. Here charlotte Bronte uses short snappy sentences to create a feeling of empathy. Jane Eyre got really angry, so was fighting back with John Reed; wicked and cruel boy she said. I felt him grasp my hair and my shoulder; he had closed with a desperate thing. I really saw in him a tyrant, a murderer. I felt a drop or two of blood trickling down my neck. this shows she has a reason for why she is fighting back, and again makes the reader feel empathy for her. Towards the end of chapter one Charlotte Bronte uses alliteration well for example fury to fly and picture of passion of which is also emotive language. She uses alliteration again in the beginning of chapter two, moments mutiny this is also an emotive and powerful phrase. Hold her arms, miss abbot, shes like a mad cat. This shows aggression towards Jane Eyre, and they are physically and emotionally suppressing her. When they talk about the word cat it again gives an impression to the reader that she is some sort of uncivilised wild animal and should be locked up. The reader may also think of a cat being fiery. Bessie (the servant) says if you dont sit still, you must be tied down they are treating her like a prisoner, yet she is only ten years of age. As incredulous of my sanity here Jane Eyre seems to have overstated the problem, making it sound worse than it actually is. Abbot described Jane Eyre as an underhand little thing. This isnt a very nice way to talk to a ten year old, and makes her sound evil. She also describes her as a thing. A thing may mean a human or an animal, as she has been described as an animal a few times in the novel, for example when Abbot calls her a mad cat and John Reed called her a rat. All these animal phrases give a negative affect to the novel. It is also a really strong use of emotive language, along with; painful and crushing, which is emotional and very negative, passionate and rude, and strike her dead these are good examples of how well Charlotte Bronte has used emotive language. Miss Abbot was saying about Jane Eyre, god will punish her: he might strike her dead in the midst of her tantrums. Jane Eyre is only a child, and thats something you dont say to a child, it may be suggesting she going to hell. Jane Eyre got locked in the red-room; this is a room where Mr. Reed had died in, so wasnt a very nice room for a child to be in, and was only visited occasionally, once a week by the housemaid to wipe the mirrors and the furniture a weeks quiet dust and Mrs Reed came in at far intervals to review the contents of a certain secret drawer in the wardrobe. The chairs were of dark polished old mahogany this shows the reader that the family must be wealthy, as mahogany is a very rare wood. The idea of mahogany adds to the whole idea of the red-room. Charlotte Bronte used the words red-room very well as its a good selective choice of wording, as its alliteration and its one that the reader will remember. The colour choice reflects on her life stage as she is just at the start of adolescence, where her periods will start and the colour also may be associated with anger and passion. It also tells us that the furniture is dark. It was silent as she was describing the room, it is like the room has almost taken her voice away, and gives a negative atmosphere. Being put in the red-room makes the reader feel sorry for Jane Eyre as she is only a child and is being treated unfairly. Describing the room again; also white and like a pale throne gives a deathly feel to the room, and is a ghostly colour giving the reader an impression that its used to create a negative feel to the novel. It sounds like Jane Eyre is starting to get hot and angry, and maybe a bit rebellious as she said my blood was still warm her mind also seems to becoming disturbed as she uses words like tyrannies, proud indifference and turned up in my disturbed mind Again these are all negative words, and again create empathy towards Jane Eyre. We know that Jane Eyre is understandably not happy about being in the red-room, so is slightly stubborn, being a typical child when they havent got what they want, she says she is going to let herself die; never eating or drinking more and letting myself die In the next paragraph of the novel the reader will feel empathy again towards Ja ne Eyre as she says I was termed naughty and tiresome, sullen and sneaking from. As we know she is not really naughty and is very innocent. Charlotte Bronte uses a persuasive technique by using a group of three words together, these were humiliation, self-doubt, forlorn depression. again this creates a really strong feeling of empathy by the reader. She then goes on to say I wiped my tears making the reader feel sorry for her as she isnt in the wrong and hasnt done anything wrong so shouldnt be punished. Jane Eyre seems slightly disturbed and obsessed with death as she is talking about dead men. Then Jane Eyre believes something is near, a light gleamed on the wall. Was it, I asked myself, a ray from the moon penetrating some aperture in the blind? No; moonlight was still, and this stirred; it was almost as if her mind was playing tricks on her and it was slightly superstitious. She may feel that somethings coming to get her, as shes alone and scared. Towards the end of chapter two Jane Eyre says to her Aunt Reed, O Aunt! Have pity! Forgive me! makes the reader feel sorry for her as she is only a ten year old child, begging her aunt to forgive her, its not often that a child of the 21st century would have the need to do that. Overall, I feel Charlotte Bronte has created empathy in the novel as I felt it towards her. The way Charlotte Bronte used a poor girl, with a rich family really worked well, as the rich family looked down upon Jane Eyre, (the poor girl) and thats what people did in the 19th century, and some still do it today, but not as much as then. Charlotte also used excellent use of emotive language, as it created empathy from the reader. The first two chapters of the novel has made me think more about the children with no parents, living with family or friends that dont really want them around! They must feel down and negative all the time.
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