I think the way you’ve handled on your fiberworks site is good.

Cropped images in squares are fine if they are large enough and contain enough of the image to be recognizable as specific images.

The ones I think are a problem are much smaller than this and harder to identify as individual images.

As my work varies in size and shape, what do you recommend for an orderly presentation instead of cropped images in squares?

Thanks for all your efforts. You must love what you do…guess I really will go back and learn CSS before my gray matter smooths out entirely.

I have read your advice thoroughly on “how to display and how not to display your art on the web”. I am humbled by your generosity of time and knowledge. I can sense that you have a sincere need to guide artists through the maze that has become “artist website design”. As a fellow web designer and lover of art, who has also felt this need for some time, it is comforting to read how closely our views on the subject coincide.

Almost 3 years ago, I set out to try and create a portfolio website solution for artists. My wife Susan, had recently decided to follow her true passion, makeup artistry, and I could see how important it was for her to have a professional looking online portfolio website, that she could easily update herself.

My approach to this problem was a simple and a practical one. Standards had emerged in physical portfolios, and through the chaos that is web design for artists, standards would emerge in online portfolios over time. After 3 years of a lot of ups and downs and plenty of headaches, the result of my efforts is what I call SwiftFolios. I would like to tell you a little bit about it and how I created it.

I decided to use “Flash without the Flash” as I like to put it, because it was the only alternative that was going to enable me to fulfill the vision I had for how it should work. However, I used the Flash files as “empty shells” that artwork, text etc., got loaded into, to ensure a complete separation of site content from how it was presented. This was important for many reasons.

Since I was trying to create a standard, I had to decide what that standard would look like. The “Don’t make me think” philosophy you mentioned is so true. That philosophy and the philosophy “your portfolio website should complement your work, not distract from it” drove most of my design decisions.

I settled with professional title (logo) on the upper left hand corner, menu items on the upper right hand corner, scrolling thumbnails on the right side, and artwork centered on the page to the left of the thumbnails. Back, next buttons (with image numbers) were placed under the thumbnails. To the left of these buttons, I placed “slideshow” and “image info” buttons. When the visitor rolls over the image info button, any text related to the artwork appears below the artwork. If there is no text, the image info button does not appear.

With regard to the administration tool for updating the website, I used the same “Don’t make me think” philosophy and made the artwork the central focus. I really don’t want to go into a detailed description of this tool here, because it would take too long. The only feature I would like to point out is the ability to have full creative control over every element of the underlying design, enabling you to ensure your website complements your work, and communicates your unique style and personality.

I built this website solution for you guys, so please take a look, and email me or call with your feedback, questions and suggestions.

In particular, I would love to hear from you Charley. Some questions have arisen in my mind as a result of reading your guide and I would love to discuss them with you. From the breadth and quality of your work that I have seen, you are already a mentor to me. I would really appreciate your advice and guidance.

Sincerely,

Anthony Donoghue
SwiftFolios LLC
http://www.swiftfolios.com

PS. If you go to my website, you will see that I used (with their permission) images of artwork from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, to present example websites. Why? A. Because it is my favorite place in the world, but more importantly B. If the old masters were around today, I can’t see them arguing over the design to choose for their online portfolio, the colors maybe, but not the design. All I can hear them saying is “Does it complement my work, does it complement my work?”

Please forgive me if you don’t like the colors I selected in my attempt to complement the old masters work. This is why I gave you the control to do this yourself. I am told I have a decent eye, but there is nothing like your own eye.

I am off to the MET. Have a great weekend.

Dustin

Thank you for your comments. Unfortunately, the link to your web site doesn’t work.