More arts executives are looking to the Web to review the work of emerging and mid-career artists. Why? Because it is faster than coping with massive volumes of paper-portfolios. This is better for the artist as there is considerable cost and time utilized in sending out big numbers of paper and slide portfolios to galleries and dealers.
So , what is critical in a site? What do fine art curators look for? Remember the times that you have visited a really art gallery or museum? You were probably tuned into a sense of beauty and elegance and found that the art truly caught your imagination or provoked an intense feeling in you.
Did you understand that only part of the reason you liked the art was the art itself? The other part of the picture that your subconscious drank in while you were enjoying the champagne was the delicate work of the Curator. Curating is a form of art in its own right: look closer next time you are in a fine gallery. It's no different when you showcase your work online. A really excellent artist's internet site will create an ambiance of beauty, subtlety, or poser around the work. It may shock you or bring a feeling of harmony. It might make you feel energized.
How is this done? It's easy. A good artist web site designer has shares many of the same qualities as a museum curator. There are things that your eye won't see on the website, but your subconscious will - refined selections of color, layout, font, kerning, and structure all build to form an ambiance for the art. Designers and curators know how to do this from years of design studies and experience, along with talent! These are some things to think about when you are planning the visual design of your artist portfolio. Designers regularly use these themes as a starting point.
- Keep it simplistic and classy
- Keep the focus on the art itself
- Use neutral background colours that compliment the work. Good selections are black, charcoal, white, and off-white shades. Other colours can look good depending on the art. Avoid bright colors which draw the viewer away from the work
- Don't crowd the look of the art or distract with a site that looks too "busy".
- Do not have ads all over your website - it cheapens the art and your image. We recommend that you avoid advertising on your site, or if you have to, it should be limited to a section targeted on resources or links.
As a rule, we recommend against having lots of art-works on your website. Choose your absolute best work, just as you would choose slides for a regular portfolio, and add new work as it becomes available. Some portfolio websites will enable you to put up as much as 100 pieces of your work, but we think its too distracting. Many of the sites we design have 20 or less works on display. Think about this: when was the last time you went to a high-end gallery that had hundreds of pieces showing?
Avoid designer-ish effects like flash pictures unless they're executed efficiently and really compliment the art. In the time it takes to play your exotic flash-based entry page your visitor may have moved on.
If you follow these straightforward guiding principles, you will be well on the way to a good artists portfolio.
A good website should also showcase the artist herself. Selling art is about somebody buying your art AND the image they feel from you as an artist. A well executed website may never replace a meeting with a collector or dealer, nevertheless it can be the significant factor that piques their interest and results in the meeting. The value of that is enormous.
Your artist's web site is the foundation on which you will build your complete online-marketing strategy. Each promoting tool and program will seek to draw attention to your portfolio studio. It's worth putting in the investment in time, thought and money to make it great!
So , what is critical in a site? What do fine art curators look for? Remember the times that you have visited a really art gallery or museum? You were probably tuned into a sense of beauty and elegance and found that the art truly caught your imagination or provoked an intense feeling in you.
Did you understand that only part of the reason you liked the art was the art itself? The other part of the picture that your subconscious drank in while you were enjoying the champagne was the delicate work of the Curator. Curating is a form of art in its own right: look closer next time you are in a fine gallery. It's no different when you showcase your work online. A really excellent artist's internet site will create an ambiance of beauty, subtlety, or poser around the work. It may shock you or bring a feeling of harmony. It might make you feel energized.
How is this done? It's easy. A good artist web site designer has shares many of the same qualities as a museum curator. There are things that your eye won't see on the website, but your subconscious will - refined selections of color, layout, font, kerning, and structure all build to form an ambiance for the art. Designers and curators know how to do this from years of design studies and experience, along with talent! These are some things to think about when you are planning the visual design of your artist portfolio. Designers regularly use these themes as a starting point.
- Keep it simplistic and classy
- Keep the focus on the art itself
- Use neutral background colours that compliment the work. Good selections are black, charcoal, white, and off-white shades. Other colours can look good depending on the art. Avoid bright colors which draw the viewer away from the work
- Don't crowd the look of the art or distract with a site that looks too "busy".
- Do not have ads all over your website - it cheapens the art and your image. We recommend that you avoid advertising on your site, or if you have to, it should be limited to a section targeted on resources or links.
As a rule, we recommend against having lots of art-works on your website. Choose your absolute best work, just as you would choose slides for a regular portfolio, and add new work as it becomes available. Some portfolio websites will enable you to put up as much as 100 pieces of your work, but we think its too distracting. Many of the sites we design have 20 or less works on display. Think about this: when was the last time you went to a high-end gallery that had hundreds of pieces showing?
Avoid designer-ish effects like flash pictures unless they're executed efficiently and really compliment the art. In the time it takes to play your exotic flash-based entry page your visitor may have moved on.
If you follow these straightforward guiding principles, you will be well on the way to a good artists portfolio.
A good website should also showcase the artist herself. Selling art is about somebody buying your art AND the image they feel from you as an artist. A well executed website may never replace a meeting with a collector or dealer, nevertheless it can be the significant factor that piques their interest and results in the meeting. The value of that is enormous.
Your artist's web site is the foundation on which you will build your complete online-marketing strategy. Each promoting tool and program will seek to draw attention to your portfolio studio. It's worth putting in the investment in time, thought and money to make it great!
About the Author:
Daniel Tardent is the business director for Beautiful Artist Websites, a boutique design studio based in Santa Monica, California. Beautiful Artist Websites have expertise in designing premium artist porfolios marketing solutions for artists, photographers, galleries, and other creatives.