Website

One aspect of artist promotion is an online portfolio or website. By having a site that is dedicated to myself as an illustrator, I can advertise my work to a larger audience, and direct traffic to my portfolio through my physical business cards. As many contemporary artists use the internet to sell or promote their own work, this approach seems natural and easy to do, especially with the number of services that offer free website/blog creation that exist today.

When designing my website, I considered what aesthetic I would use and what audience it should appeal to, as well as the layout, function and display of the site. From my research, I decided that I would use Wordpress to create my site, because of the options that it gave me as a creator.

The site itself (ollierdillustration.wordpress.com) has a simple grey aesthetic to represent the mostly monochromatic visual style of my artwork, which contrasts well with the white of the site banner and gallery images on the homepage. By not having too much flair or detail on the site that could distract people from the art, I have created a focused and efficient design that is more practical than it is beautiful. This balance is appropriate for my work and is a good way to promote myself.

The four sections of my site are a homepage where my latest artwork is shown in a gallery format, a blog for me to discuss art projects or pieces that I am working on, an about page with a small description about myself as an Illustrator, and a contact page that can be used by clients. This organisation makes the site easy to navigate, while giving a primary focus to the artwork. I believe that this is important in standing out to potential clients who discover my site through my promotional materials, such as business cards.