Questions about Designing an Art Website...

[Thew]

I am currently a student, Visual Arts Major emphasizing in Computer Graphics

I am currently desinging a website for myself that has a little bit of everything; computer art, life drawing, comic book art, photography, graphic design

when i went to show one of my professors what i have been working on, it was shut down immediately, and told me i need to stick to things more conservative and less stylized.

what i am working on....index page

http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/6879/webstest3ns1.jpg

she told me it was too satanic and would turn off a lot of people. It's interesting though because a lot of the people i am inspired by and the things i want to do have no problem with evil imagery.

however her comments did get me thinking do I need to make a website that caters to everyone and not just the kind of stuff i like doing (i like drawing evil stuff, i can't help it)..or do I just keep doing what I'm doing and go after those jobs that involve this.

The conent on the website isn't just what the layout it, it's going to deal with all mediums of art and all types

anyone have any suggestions, insight or tips on what makes a website good and what someone trying to get into the biz should do?

p.s. this is my teacher's website
http://www.ursyn.com/

[Seedling]

Many art professors are stultifyingly ignorant of modern illustration markets.
Your teacher is either a fundamentalist Christian, or a moron. (How anyone gets hired to teach computer graphics without an understanding of what goes on professionally is beyond me.) Either way, ignore her advice. If you want to make art full of gooey evil things, and especially if you want to make a career from making gooey evil things, then at some point an online portfolio that demonstrates what you can do will be entirely necessary.

That said, don’t spend gobs of your time creating and maintaining webpages as a student when it’s your primary illustration skills you should be working on. A dirt-basic website that points cleanly to your art, contact info, and resume should suffice as your professional portfolio.

And if you really want to make art for two contradictory audiences, such as fundamentalist Christians and Satanists, it would do to have two segregated portions of your website, if not two altogether separate websites. It is important to know who your audience is, and isn’t.

[edit] Your teacher's website makes me want to cry.

[Flake]

[edit] Your teacher's website makes me want to cry.

Is that because of the work, the web design, the terrifiying fact that he or she is teaching anyone or a combination of all three?

[Qitsune]

Is that because of the work, the web design, the terrifiying fact that he or she is teaching anyone or a combination of all three?
Maybe because it looks like everything was made by blind 10 year olds.

Thew, I like the skull, but the type is hard to read, I was like "The art blog about"? what the heck is that supposed to mean? The last thing you want is for visitors to lose their bearings or not understand what your site is about. Have some art on the first page! I don't see why skulls should be satanic since many art stores have them for the purpose of learning anatomy... And everyone I know has one for the purpose of keeping their scalp and brain separate. There isn't any blood or black or inverted crosses, or profanity.

[Seedling]

Is that because of the work, the web design, the terrifiying fact that he or she is teaching anyone or a combination of all three?

Yes.

I believe those blind ten-year-olds still have forks shoved into their eye sockets. They weep tears of blood into the keyboard, which causes font troubles.

[otis]

LOL!!! This just proves how pointless going to school for art is. She is a great example why MFA's are worthless.
I have one thing to say about her long-winded artist's statement:
Natural order guides our understanding of big data sets related to network analysis, when we employ physical analogies of the data, render the data graphically, explore them ‘by eye’ and interact in real time. My task is to juxtapose the regularity of nature with man's constructions, both physical and intellectual. The big city images, for example, combine how humans affect their environment, and at the same time, how a city metaphor reflects rhythm and organization of big data sets, and makes data mining easier. Observers — whether artists or technology experts — perceive such relationships in different lights and from different perspectives and different points of view.
WTF?!! SPEAK ENGLISH and TAKE YOUR MEDS

My advice....drop out and run like HELL!

[Thew]

Maybe because it looks like everything was made by blind 10 year olds.

Thew, I like the skull, but the type is hard to read, I was like "The art blog about"? what the heck is that supposed to mean? The last thing you want is for visitors to lose their bearings or not understand what your site is about. Have some art on the first page! I don't see why skulls should be satanic since many art stores have them for the purpose of learning anatomy... And everyone I know has one for the purpose of keeping their scalp and brain separate. There isn't any blood or black or inverted crosses, or profanity.

ow would you suggest I resolve the confusion on the website however

and it seems like i'm getting the same input from many of the other art forums I post at that art teachers don't really know what the fuck they are talking about

[Flake]

it seems like i'm getting the same input from many of the other art forums I post at that art teachers don't really know what the fuck they are talking about

Generally, that would be true.

It's worth pointing out though that there are awesome teachers out there

All art schools are not created equal, neither are all art teachers.

[tensai]

Maybe not exactly what you want, but check out this series of articles (http://www.linesandcolors.com/category/displaying-art-on-the-web/) on the excellent Lines and Colors blog.

It covers everything from planning, to designing, to building your own site, and finding providers and registering domain names etc.

Good luck.

[Thew]

fantastic link

[Shadowwing]

Your teacher is either a fundamentalist Christian, or a moron.

XXXXXXXXXXX------------DELETED--------------XXXXXXXXXX:bashful:

Anyway, I agree with what is being said there...if you like to do skulls and goop, then make it clear on your website...that is what you specialize in. You can't please everyone, so just specialize in one thing.

[Thew]

does this read better?
rough colors but..

http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/3268/weblayout2pu0.jpg

[Evil_Sloth]

G'day mate, I'm only 19 and still in my first year of art school but I've been working in graphics design since I was 15.

Here's some websites I worked on.

http://www.jawsarchitects.com
www.lesblakebrough.com.au

here's one of my favourite design groups.

www.2advanced.com

The best thing to do I've found is to study how the best do it and learn from that, kinda like doing master studies and read up on graphics design.

Simple is always the best so orientate the site around balancing user friendlyness vs coolness.
The colours in the last image are getting easier to read the navigation, I'd suggest making the design reflect what your work is about.

[StarrTheInsane]

Ouch, your teacher is a nutcase.

Paraphrasing a genius of the concept art world, if you show people exactly what they want to see and tell them exactly what they want to hear, they gain nothing from this. They don't learn anything. Show them a piece of you. Do your own thing and the public will respond.

If you have to sacrifice your style for the sake of satisfying clients who aren't into your usual works, you're going to burn out fast. I'd say keep your skull design. The people you want to be working for will want you and you'll enjoy what you do alot more.

There's a huge difference between meeting requirements and exceeding expectations. One can't be sustained for any length of time, the other builds on itself to become even better all the time.

[Thew]

all this information and links are great guys
thanks

[Thew]

Ouch, your teacher is a nutcase.

Paraphrasing a genius of the concept art world, if you show people exactly what they want to see and tell them exactly what they want to hear, they gain nothing from this. They don't learn anything. Show them a piece of you. Do your own thing and the public will respond.

If you have to sacrifice your style for the sake of satisfying clients who aren't into your usual works, you're going to burn out fast. I'd say keep your skull design. The people you want to be working for will want you and you'll enjoy what you do alot more.

There's a huge difference between meeting requirements and exceeding expectations. One can't be sustained for any length of time, the other builds on itself to become even better all the time.

i wish all of you could meet my teacher, she doesn't know how to talk at all and her assignments are pointless...at this point i'm just going through the motions to graduate

[StarrTheInsane]

We only have two art teachers here. One is the uptight perfectionist who wants everyone to make classical art, the other is...my father-in-law...and he's the most laid back professor I've ever known. Between the two of them we get enough rules to know so we can break them later.

It's not bad, but my school seems to have completely ignored digital media. I'm trying to change all that by building my own degree plan in Liberal Studies. Perhaps when it's all said and done they'll expand the department and hire a few new professors.

[Seedling]

I happen to be a fundamentalist Christian who like evil things. Please dispense with stereotyping, thank you.

Um. . . if you aren’t crafting some subtle parody about people who overreact to stereotypes, then I wish you godspeed in sorting out your contradictory beliefs.

Natural order guides our understanding of big data sets related to network analysis, when we employ physical analogies of the data, render the data graphically, explore them ‘by eye’ and interact in real time. My task is to juxtapose the regularity of nature with man's constructions, both physical and intellectual. The big city images, for example, combine how humans affect their environment, and at the same time, how a city metaphor reflects rhythm and organization of big data sets, and makes data mining easier. Observers — whether artists or technology experts — perceive such relationships in different lights and from different perspectives and different points of view.

I know this is what goes on in fine arts academia, but still, omfg.


It's worth pointing out though that there are awesome teachers out there

All art schools are not created equal, neither are all art teachers.

Yes, absolutely.

at this point i'm just going through the motions to graduate

You need to use your assignments to learn the things that you think you need, teachers be damned. Don't just do the minimum to get the grade.

[Jabo]

Thew, we have a quite good thread about websites either here in the Art Discussion or the Lounge. It's called something like "How not to display your art on the web". Search for it, it has a nice article quoted in the first post that will make things a little clearer to you.

A few quick pointers regarding your draft:
- Don't overload the site with images that are used by the website itself. You'll have a shitload of actual art on your site. Think about loading times. When your site's images take 5 seconds to load, the user has to wait another 5 until the art appears.
- Portfolios are usually designed in greyscale, so the colors of the website don't distract from the colors of your art. This is important. Your eye has a certain repertoire of red, green and blue receptors. Imagine looking at a saturated green website for a minute. The green receptors will quickly be used up and your eye has to look at your art with only red and blue left. The image will look pinkish to the viewer.
- Add things to the index.html. Not just a navigation. Splash-pages aren't used anymore in 2007. They suck.
- Nice design btw.

[Ullr]

I must say, your teacher's website is one of the worst I have seen, from over compressed jpegs on the front page to jaggy gifs everywhere, and the default times font. This is a website from 1997, which would be like printing your portfolio on a ribbon printer from the 80's.
As horrible as her site is, and art is, I agree with her that your site was hard to read at first. The biggest hard read is that your name is Thew, but you put the 'w' below, so it reads as The- w . It would work if 'The' wasn't a word we see a lot, in fact the most, so that we read it as a word. You need to put that W up, keep the red and different colors, and your page is good. On the secondary pages, feel free to change to greys or whatever, but maintain some of the elements you love in the corner or top navigation.
Also, on Art teachers, I have had many when I was in art school, some were horrible, many were amazing and made me what I am today. Still, I ended up doing some great stuff in those bad classes, and they were never a waste. Don't focus on how bad your teacher is, but what little you can learn, and if nothing is to be gleaned from her, then just do your own projects and gain benefit from your classmates' critiques.

--Colin Adams (website below)

[Thew]

i know this isn't really the place for it anymore but i made some slight modifications
and also all this info about websites and such is really great help, this is some of the best advice i've gotten here

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/1162/weblayout3im4.jpg

[kingshaj]

i second Ullr's comments
her example is very very amateur, shows little understanding or personal experience of the medium

Keep your site as simple as you can! ...Painfully simple! Let the content speak for itself. Try not to give in to the urge to make funky cool navigation...prospective clients or employers always hate this!

Also avoid the splash page…don’t need it …just something to skip and the fancy image will be out of date before you can update.
It is the web equivalent of the perfume lady in the mall…no on likes ‘em

Something to bare in mind:
Your audience doesnt come looking for a "cool web experience"...you are making a portfolio...nothing more.
They come looking for your art...that’s all they want to see...so get out of the way, and give them the cleanest quickest path to it. Much the same criteria you would have in building a physical portfolio. Clean neat and professional

>> sorry about your teacher,she is why CA members think artschools/acedemia suck...and thier instructors are seen as self serving charlatans. (read her site ..if you dare..i rolled my eyes so hard i almost fell out of my chair!)
hope your other classes are better taught....
but Don’t underestimate how much can be learned from your classmates!

[Thew]

interesing words, specifically the part about
"our audience doesnt come looking for a "cool web experience"...you are making a portfolio...nothing more"

this is defiently true, but could the design elements of the website both act as a function and as part of my portfolio?

anyways i've been playing around with it more...trying to make it easier to read and navigate

http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/5968/weblayout4tz9.jpg

[Qitsune]

this is defiently true, but could the design elements of the website both act as a function and as part of my portfolio?
Do you want to work making websites?

As for the greyscale part, actually this is why Conceptart is so beige. You can use colors but keep the saturated colors in check and concentrate on large areas of neutral colors. Greyish blues, beige, greys, offwhite. Avoid complete black (too 1998!) or complete white (hurts the eyes.)

I have made a variation that I beleive makes better use of your screen real estate. I hope you don't mind.

[Thew]

i don't mind at all and this is great...
although this is what i was picturing for my art pages...the art link would take you to a page looing like this....current art (2007) with then links to previous years

i'm in the process of going a completely different rout however and am going to see if it will work any better because essentially, sticking with this design, all i would have to do now is code the website

[Thew]

completely different type of design
sketch

http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/1962/img029vq2.jpg

it would either be done in india ink and scanned or in illistrator

[2100]

Now that's too nice, you can't just let her win like that. Here's how I would stick it to her:

[StarrTheInsane]

hehe, yeah and each petal on the flowers takes you to a different page. :wink:

[kev ferrara]

Gotta say,

I think you really need to pay attention to the fact that natural order guides our understanding of big data sets related to network analysis. And if you don't juxtapose the regularity of nature with man's constructions, (both physical and intellectual), how will you employ the physical analogies of the data to render that data graphically? By exploring them by eye? Hardly!

Remember, metaphors reflect big data sets in transient occlusion of temporal actuality. If you don't understand this, there's no way you can be an artist!

[steve kim]

Also, on Art teachers, I have had many when I was in art school, some were horrible, many were amazing and made me what I am today. Still, I ended up doing some great stuff in those bad classes, and they were never a waste. Don't focus on how bad your teacher is, but what little you can learn, and if nothing is to be gleaned from her, then just do your own projects and gain benefit from your classmates' critiques.

i agree with this man. looking at the teacher's work, website, and resume... i may not be thrilled with her work but at least she has been working and doing something. maybe there is something there to be gleaned? when it is the hardest to do so is when it's the most important to keep an open mind.

steve

[Thew]

2100 that's a pretty great design :P

and I have learned a few things from this teacher, i've been taking her classes for over 2 years, and the thing she does with her projects is gives us a word, an idea, or a phrase and lets us go for it. Anything we want to do, and in doing so has helped me think differently about my art...previously before college I was all about comic book art, ect.. that is what i wanted to do but when I got into college i discovered computer art and what it lends itself to, you can do anything with this thing, weather it has a deeper meaning to it or weather it's something as fun as a slimey skull