I’m an Artist, Do I Need an Online Portfolio? Advice From a Professional Web Designer

If you’re an artist or creative person, you may have wondered: Should I have an online portfolio?

As someone who’s job it is to work on and improve website content, I can tell you the answer is: It depends…

Before you go subscribing to the latest A.I integrated, influencer sponsored platform (you know the one), you should ask yourself this question: What am I going to use this online portfolio for? If you have an immediate use or business plan then it’s a good idea to invest in a professional looking website and portfolio. If you’re just starting out, it may be better to invest in a free service or use social media or a marketplace platform until you become more established.

When you get there, here’s some tips to use when building your portfolio:

Your story is as important as how you tell it

Whenever I gather content to build a website for a client, I put myself in the shoes of the average internet user and ask myself: Why should I care?

Part of the answer is creating a story to tell the user about yourself. Your story could be about:

• Your unique perspective as an artist
• Your creative process: where you find inspiration, where you find materials, your process from start to finish, etc.
• Why you became an artist
• A cause or ethos that you support by creating art
• A story about your life that lead to you discovering your creative self
• Why your art service or product is important and valuable to others

Creating a story about your creative life gives your audience something to attach and relate to. You can tell this story in your ‘about me’ section as well as integrate it into your page design. A clear story throughout your work and portfolio will set you apart from the rest!

Keep it simple

A trap that many frequently fall into when creating their first online portfolio is over-complicating the design. Sure, those scroll animations look cool, but how distracting are they to the message you’re trying to get across? Remember to keep it simple! Focus on a few basic colors and fonts and make sure to watch the negative space! Test your layout on a desktop, tablet and phone to make sure everything looks clean from one viewport to the next.

Tips for building the portfolio you want

I recently built a portfolio page on Flyover State Creative to display my work online. When you build yours, here’s some features you could ‘steal’ from me:

• Navigation: My page has jump links near the top for the user to navigate through the page. There is also a ‘to top’ button that moves the user to the top of the page again if they want to go back and look at something else.
• Lightbox: When you click on one of may artworks, the page automatically zooms in for you to see detail. This function is known as a ‘lightbox’ effect and it can be integrated on a ton of different platforms
• Scanning and Photographing work: Should you scan or photograph your artwork? It doesn’t matter as long as it looks well lit, clean and professional. Good lighting and cropping makes a huge difference here. On my page, I chose to professionally photograph all of my artwork.
• Grouping artwork: If you have a lot of artwork, it may be a good idea to group similar works in different sections of the page. You can use these different groups as part of your storytelling too.
• About section: On my portfolio page, I included a mini ‘About me’ section and ‘FAQ’. These are optional sections and it’s best to keep these short if you decide to include them on your portfolio page.
• Make it mobile friendly: About 80% of web traffic is on a mobile device. If you’re making a page, it’s important to test and make sure it looks nice for people who may be accessing your portfolio using a phone or tablet.

You can build your own online portfolio!

There’s a lot that goes into making a portfolio. Before you begin, it’s important to understand that not every creative venture needs an online portfolio.

When you’re ready to make your online debut, keep the tips above in mind. Also, check out the resources and tools in the next section for some extra learning and inspiration.

Resources for posting your work online

Nightshade – Protect your work online from AI scrapers by using nightshade.

WordPress.org – WordPress is the largest platform for making websites. It has a learning curve but there’s lots of plugins and resources online to get started. WordPress.org is the free and open-source version, and WordPress.com offers hosting and other features to make things easier for beginners.

wpbeginner – The beginners guide for making your first WordPress website.

HEART Framework – A high level intro to UX metrics and methodology

WebAIM Accessibility for Designers – A resource for making your website accessible for everyone.

Thanks for reading!

Good luck!!! You’ve got this <3
~Kate