first design

So I have started to try out different designs for my website. I'm working with Dreamweaver and Photoshop mainly and basing it on tables, with a menu at the top divided out as I said in a previous entry - main, projects, and contacts - and the content laid out below. I've found a font I really like on DaFont for the header called Handwriting; it reminds me of the paths and anchors that I have to use on my vector work. I have tried out a pale brown and dark red colour scheme that seems sort of inky and antiquated, inspired by The Decemberists' website which I think is beautiful.

The image I put between the main text and the head is a photo of me blended with some other photos, and then tinted the colour of the text. I kind of like it, but looking at it again I'm not sure what relevance it bears to the rest of my work.

Also, I like the colour scheme but because a lot of my work is clean, white, and digital-based, it seems rather odd to have a sort of old-fashioned style to display the work in. I think I may redesign this.

mapping out the content

So as I've said before, I have a lot of different things I would like to display on my website, and I've decided the best way to arrange everything would be to create two galleries - divided, in the simplest terms, into stuff I've been paid for and stuff I haven't. These will be called Main and Projects, and Main will be divided further into vector work and non-vector work.

So, to explain in the medium of a crappy Photoshop drawing:



I also need to think about what audience my website is aimed at - whether it be my peers or my potential employees. I would like it to be a sort of showcase of my abilities, but I don't want it to be completely stiff and corporate - perhaps there is a way I can balance the two.

http://www.radiohead.co.uk/deadairspace

Radiohead have always had a somewhat confusing purpose for their website, generally trapping the viewer in a convoluted maze of imagery, health warnings and slightly disturbing stories. More recently, though, a regularly updated blog has been installed, full of photographs of the band, news from the recording studio and on the road, and the occasional political rant or musing on the state of the world.

Anyway, the reason I'm pointing it out is because of the way they post images. A tiny thumbnail is given, which when clicked opens a pop-up window with the main, larger-size photogrpah inside, which I think is a great way in which I could present some of my work. In my web design classes I have learnt about how to use rollover images to present work as well, which I think would also be useful.

Another thing to consider is whether it would be at all possible to create something similar for my own site, a way that I can post project news.

Working on my own website - initial thoughts

Content

The main thing I want to display on this website is my vector work, which is mostly scattered drawings done in my spare time for my own entertainment, with the occasional piece for college thrown in. However, I also have a series of works I created for a club night - some are illustration, some are photography. Finally, I have a selection of collage based illustrations and the occasional monster made of fimo that I would like to show. So I will have to consider how I present my work - should it be by media? Or by purpose? Or some other method?

Other things I will need to include is some kind of contact page, and possibly some way of informing people when new work is added. An interesting thing to investigate would be to see if I could develop a way for viewers of the website to interact and communicate, but I'd probably only consider this if I had enough time.

Design

There are two ways that I could go when it comes to the design of this website. As Sue put it, it can either be a frame for existing work or a piece of art in itself - something functional and clean, or something more stylised.

One website I really enjoy the look of is that of the Decemberists. With the lead singer having settled down with an illustrator, the band has a fairly strong musical and design theme that has run throughout their albums, and the website reflects this with a handwritten menu and headers, a slightly yellowed background colour (like old paper) and flash-animated illustrations in the same sorts of colours and inky style. The whole website carries this sort of antiquated style which supports the band's own identity.

However, I still also enjoy the clean style of Slowly Downward (which I described in an earlier post, so I shall have to investigate both.

Website Analysis - http://www.drownedinsound.com

Drowned in Sound or DiS is a UK based music webzine dedicated to new music. The site is mostly based on contributions from unpaid writers and has an integrated forum to allow for discussion and comments on interviews, news and reviews. It also includes a user rated database of artists and bands as well as details for most live music venues (big and small) in the UK. Aside from space for comments, there are separate forums for general discussion, music related discussion and advertisements for people requiring bands or musicians. The site has over 40,000 registered members, and gets around 155,000 unique visitors per week.

The basic layout of the site is based on standard tables but is divided into different sections by a menu on the top left hand side - news, reviews, features, listings, community (a message board) and shop. They all follow the same layout and fit into the same template, with only the content changing, which gives the website a sense of continuity.

Website Analysis - http://www.gyoubu.com

Gyoubu.com is the portfolio website of Japanese illustrator Ippei Gyoubu. Mostly flash based, most of its content opens in a smaller, fixed size window. The layout is simple yet playful, providing easy access to Gyoubu's contact details and gallery but also providing a list of work and a blog (sadly both in Japanese) and a small section of Gyoubu's favourite things.

The Gallery also works in Flash, with a series of small boxes to click that load up a larger image, as well as information as to where it was published and what for - his clients involve Adidas, Dr Pepper and Sony. There are also two external links to projects Gyoubu has been involved in.

Website Analysis: http://www.slowlydownward.com

Slowly Downward is the portfolio website of artist Stanley Donwood, an artist working in various disciplines including print, digital media and paint. He also presents on the site a selection of short stories he has written that range from the blackly humourous to the downright macabre.

The setup of this website is simplistic in terms of code and relies on its images for visual impact. The index page offers you a forked path immediate upon entry; one route is the Library, the collection of his short stories, and the other is the Shop. The shop also contains an option to sign up to his mailing list or contact him directly via email, as well as view the prints and other things he has for sale.

Also on the front page are direct links to his most recent exhibitions, London Views and Dead Children Playing.

The simplicity of Donwood's website is one that works well for it; more or less abandoning any superflous trappings save the occasional piece of art or designed flourish, it allows the viewer to freely explore the site without being bombarded with too much information at once. It seems more angled towards the casual viewer, or perhaps those interested in buying a print, rather than as an online CV, but still exhibits a large amount of his work.