The Purpose of my website is to create a digital experience that best showcases digital artwork. The website will act as a digital showroom depending on simplistic elements to ellicit this feeling.
My target audience will be artistic and indie. I want to target an audience that will apprecitate the art being showcased but also debate and encourage others to form opinions about the art they are viewing. The reason I am seeking to attract more individuals who identify as indie is because they have a relationships to art that is both serious and but lax. I want to create an experience that sytlistically captures the simplicity that is indie. My target audience age will range from 18-28 years of age. The artwork showcased will be attempting to capture the artistic eye of individuals in this age group. Majority of the traffic to the website will be American web users. I say this because i am unaware of many computer users outside the United States. There wont be many usues of language on my website as the focus will, be on moving and still images as well as video.
When designing my website i interviewed a few people in the field of both webdesign and art curation. Some of the answers to my questions revolved around deisgn and why i wanted to make certain decsions regarding design and user interface. I aimed my questions towards these topics as well as i felt that they held the most importance in terms of success of my website. I was told to stick to my theme of simplicity all the way down to colors and text. When asked if the lack of text would be a problem I was told that the lack of text would be a terrible desicion if alot of my artwork required explanation or storyline. This idea of explaining my artwork was something i never considered. I will have to make decisions on which pieces of work require explanation and if those should be inclueded in my collection. It was exciting as an art curator about their experienece curating artwork. The manner in which she spoke of artwork was influential in the way i wanted to showcase my art. There was an implied knowledge of how artwork should flow together not only with other art pieces but also with the environment in which they are being showcased. One example was the use of background colors. The color white gives the art a different vibe versus using the color grey which may bring a more subdued undertone. When asked what elements make or break a website i was told that overwhelming the users and not providing enough information could both have a negative impact on my websites success. When asked how often they would visit a site like mine i was told that it would depend on how often new artwork and information was updated. This makes sense as the site would not be updated daily but maybe on a monthly bases. I followed this question with, what kind of content would you like to see on my website? The answer to this question was difficult for my firends to answer, they looked to me to decide what art was worth being showcased.
The website for Frank Ocean's music and social realm is very much the tone i am going for with my website. The simplicity and lack of overhwemlimg elements is key to showcasing my work in the manner i seek. I enjoy the scroll down feature and the simple text as well.
SZA's website is the most different i have come across. This website is well curated. It gives alot of power to the user by allowing them to click around on the keyboard in order for certain things to pop up and interface with them. What i enjoyed was the randomness. The idea that you didnt know what picture or element would pop up kept the experience exciting and fluid. I didnt facor the color scheme all that much because i felt the bright colors could be seen as distratcing to the audience. The photos were in color as well. This didnt bother me as much and i actually think it worked well.
This website is simple and well curated. It isn't overhwhelming to the eyes and did not present too much information. I like the use of color and the subdued color scheme. The artwork could be presented better on the webpage or in a different manner. I did enjoy the lack of letters and words. It left more to be said by the artwork. This artist did not have many videos or moving art which is something i'll have to consider for my digital portfolio.
This website is very similiar to Jeszika Le Vye. Its simple and easily explorable. Not much information is presented besides the artwork. Something about the color scheme is off, i feel that the colors of the photos blends too well with the color of the background of the overall website. I enjoy the simplicity of just clicking to enlarge a photo. It makes interaction with the website easy and quick for visitors.
This website caught my eye right away because if the boarders around the artwork. It made me question if this element helped the artwork or hindered it. The presentation is similiar to other digital portfolios i've seen. I enjoyed the rollover effect with the text. This is something i may consider in the future when designing my website. I feel that this element was a good design choice because it uses space wisely and makes the text a secondary focus for the website visitors.
The rational behind my organization is based on black and white/ dark and light. The website will be navigated by a clock split in half. The first thirty mins will help navigate the light while the other thirty mins will send the user on a exploration of shadow and night. The reason for this is that i want to show the connection between digital media, time, and light. Most people who attend art galleries, according to my interview of a curator, they enjoy making connections that are not self evident or easily associated. But it is up to the curator or designer to make these opportunites available. This is why i am organizing my website content the way i have decided. I feel that the connections being made will only add to the experience of viewing this artwork through a digital medium. The clock being used on the website will also be digital. This will add to the digital element.
The media that will be present on the site will all be made in house. This media will be video and photo. It has already been created and edited for website presentation. The reason i want to focus on this artwork is because i wanted to experiment with displaying artwork in a digital setting. It is to my benefit that all the artwork was created by myself because i dont have to deal with copyright issues and rights to content. I am currently debating if i want to include an musical element in to the website. It depends on if this is covered in our lessons.
These are the colors that will be used on my website.