Hello!

I know many of you are busy with your own work, but I'm looking for some insight.

1) My current portfolio is located here. I'm going to be redoing it from scratch since I'm not happy with it. I recently renewed a program I use for web design called Xara Web Designer Premium and with this renewal I received a free .com or .co.uk domain name of my choice. I'm at somewhat of a loss as to what to use for said domain name. Do you use your name? Something catchy that describes your content? Etc? Obviously, I want something unique, but don't want to seem too silly or unprofessional.

2) On my current one, a lot of my work is saved as .exe files. I read somewhere in this forum that companies don't have time to play your work, and I find that completely understandable. One of the suggestions was to make videos showcasing the work. My games are all demo sized, as per instructions from former instructors when I was in school. Are the demos acceptable for a video or do I need to complete the work in full (ex: add levels)? I'm not sure I even have the original files anymore. I'll have to look when I get access to my external HD.

I have Youtube and Vimeo accounts where I can upload the videos (provided they don't get flagged even though it's my work or work with teammates) and can link them to my site when ready.

3) I have Hydrocephalus and Cerebral Palsy. Both affect my physical movement and speech, so I'm wondering if subtitles instead of speech is okay for videos? Also, if I get someone else to play my games for the videos (if needed), is that acceptable? Some of the games I created with groups especially, are set up to use WASD and I cannot move my hands/fingers properly to access these keys.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Take anything I saw with a grain of salt. I've collected a lot of tips over the years of trying to find a job, and I'm still trying (I blame location and a niche position for it.)

1. Use your real name unless you are really committed or well known by an alias. It will make it much easier for other people to find you.

2. I believe a vertical slice is the best thing to show. Even if you published a game, you'd want to make a short gameplay video briefly showing everything it can do.

3. I believe subtitles are common practice for demo reels. You would need to verbally explain things if you land an interview, though. You don't need to be able to play yourself to put a demo reel together.

A few more critiques of what I saw on your current portfolio, hopefully they are constructive:

a. Only show your best work. Take our anything that is obviously school work, anything that doesn't show your current skill set, whatever else you think is unprofessional.

b. Make a good first impression. Someone looking to hire might have just gone through a few dozen websites before yours, and won't click on any of your links if you don't have a visually powerful landing page.

c. Make sure it is clear what you want to do and what exactly you did on team projects. That 'about me' page is a wall of text.

Good luck.