Website Development.

One professional aspect of becoming a designer/ illustrator is that you have to have people be able to find you and your work. The more obvious way of doing that in todays environment is via a website.

So I did a bit of research into what the best kind of website would be for me, and at first it baffled me so much! I’m not the best when it comes to the technical side of the internet, but eventually managed to sort myself out with a domain name for a couple of years. I toyed around with a few name ideas for a while, like “kylehartillustration” or kdjh-art” but inn the end I realized that this was defeating the function of my site. People want to be able to find me, if they have to look more than a couple of pages on Google they’d give up. So I went with the simple http://www.kylehart.co.uk, which opens me, up to be more than just an illustrator as well.

I also shopped around for what the best hosting site would be for my needs. I played around with a WIX site for a while before deciding that there wasn’t enough freedom, and when you click on my artwork it doesn’t show it to it’s full potential or size and I really thought it ruined the online viewing experience.

I also looked at 1and1.com to see if that would work, but I thought that with the templates it offered, every site looked more like a blog to me. I’d like a news section on my site but I didn’t want it looking like a blog, since I already have two!

The best site I found, as I’m sure many others would agree, was Cargo Collective. I settled on this one because it offered some good templates and I thought I’d find it easier to customize things after a little working out. I also thought that all an audience really wants when they go on a website is simplicity and easy usability, and you get that with cargo! 

Website Research

In the coming year we will be focusing a little more on getting our work out into the real world. The real world: a scary concept! Anyway, one of the best ways to get your work out to the public is to show it off via your own website!

Now, I have no idea what I’m talking about in this area, I wont lie. There are people in the class who already have their own websites, own domains, online portfolios etc. I guess in this case I could do with catching up!

However, what I lack in website design ideas I already have in a small fanbase. I started my facebook page a few months ago and I have over 100 people following me there. I also have links to this blog where they can see my ramblings and regularly post on twitter, so I’m good at promoting myself over social networking sites. As soon as I get a portfolio put on a website I’m sure the ball will really start rolling!

What I think a website needs to be to start off with, is simple. Stuart  Price mentioned in his talk recently that a portfolio should be a labour of love, but your website just needs to be simple and I agree. I think all that I will want on my website is a page for my contact details, an introduction about me (every time I go on an illustrators website there seems to be a little info about them and I think it might be good for potential clients to get an idea of who we are) and a link to my twitter and maybe this blog. This would be if they are really interested in my ideas.

I think that it would be a good idea to maybe have a separate section for my portfolio, where the audience can get an idea of what my work is like all round. I think it would be best if I have a single introduction image first, then a click to enter kind of thing, depending on where the audience wants to go.

I’d really like to include a section showing off some of my other work as well, like maybe my sketches or doodles. This would be a good motivation for me as well to make sure there is enough work going up regularly!

Websites I have visited recently that I’d like to make notes from:

http://www.bertoneeduardo.com/ although my site wouldn’t be as crazy or colourful, I like the flashing enter sign, and it’s just an easy site to maneuver!

http://www.illustration.de/il/illustrator?id=75  There is no chance I will ever have enough illustration for this page but the idea of splitting all of the work into sections is good. I’d make a home-page though, which was clear and concise.

A lot of people in my class are currently using layouts and going through the cargo collective website. I’ve yet to decide if this is a good idea to follow in their footsteps or not. It might be more beneficial to create something that stands out from the rest of the class, but it’s something I’m going to think about over the Christmas holidays!