I’d like to share with you a non-therapist site today so that you can see how versatile using themes can be. Adding a portfolio to your web site of things (resources, downloads, podcasts, interviews etc) can look really good and can be easily searched. This client is a portrait artist and didn’t have a web site previously. She started to use Instagram to show her work and wanted to have a web site so that potential customers could browse the work that she had already undertaken. The key requirements were to set out the commission process, to have transparent pricing, a lovely portfolio or gallery of work and an easy contact option. We chose to add the search option to the site for users to be able to easily find certain pieces.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Design

The banner image was made in Canva, using three of her portraits, one of which was a selfie portrait. The handwriting style of Art by Max M reflected her signatures on her finished pieces. The dark blue is #374f6b (hex code) which is police blue, this is a quiet nod to her father who was a policeman and the site has a very clean finish, with borders separating sections so that the user’s eye is drawn to the artwork.

The banner for the gallery was a painting that the client had done, which I reworked in Canva to make it a real part of the site. She wanted the site to feel personal, so the copy is written in the first person and descriptive. It comes across as warm and approachable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Gallery (Portfolio)

The portfolio of work is split into sub-sections – people, pets, still life and projects and features her favourite work most prominently. We use pagination to allow the user to quickly look through the pieces. Each piece when hovered over also has a zoom-in function. This allows the user to see it in a bigger lightbox. The client has now taken ownership of the site. With a training video showing how to edit text and images, she is adding details such as sizes of prints, or whether they are on loan or sold.

The site was developed in this way to be future proof. Should the client want to make the site into a shop, it would be relatively easy to translate. The client shared the site amongst friends initially and was very pleased with the outcome, resulting in a few more commissions. Adding a portfolio to your web site can be easily adapted to meet your own needs, and in this case, is visually appealing. If you’d like to find out more about our web design options, visit our site for more information.