Webdesign

[aimeekitty]

Hey ya'll... so, I need to redesign my website, it's been a while. I need some inspiration.

Please show me links to your favorite art-centric websites and artist's websites!

I want to keep things relatively simple (no super super flashy things), but other than that, I'm open! And if you have any suggestions for me (ie how I should change my website), please feel free. I'm going to ponder it for a while and then make some changes.

ALSO, if you have any FAQ type questions you'd like to see answered, I'll be updating that, too.

Please see previous post for Felicia artwork. <3

Comments

[unravelingsky.livejournal.com]

God, i'm simply in love with your doctor who fanart!!!!!! O_O lol
I don't really visit art websites as much as I used to anymore... =/ I do have my own art archive though I do digital art mostly~
http://after-the-rain.net

It's a pretty basic layout I guess. I haven't changed it in so long O_O

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

aw man thanks! I love Doctor Who!

your layout is really pretty!

[little-teacup.livejournal.com]

http://www.claire-wendling.net/
http://www.ronniedelcarmen.com/
http://www.cupojo.net/
http://www.robinmitchell.ca/
http://www.rodguen.com/
http://www.mikewieringo.com/html/Blog.htm

These aren't too complicated design-wise...I had a hard time finding some, considering most artists seem to just have blogs nowadays =/

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

really like http://www.cupojo.net/

I guess it's easier for busy (and nontechy) artists to update a blog?

but I really like seeing folks' collection of work posted in a thoughtful manner in a webpage. If it's a blog, all you see really is their most recent work. And then the alt is DA... The main reason I use DA is because people find my stuff there who wouldnt.

[little-teacup.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I know what you mean...that's in part why I've kept my website, even if it's half-abandoned =/

[ajmeow.livejournal.com]

I would suggest that when you redo the site to not use iframes. I know they're handy, especially cause your site is so bloody huge but it's really hard for people to get to content directly that way. When they try to navigate directly to pages, they'll be outside your frames anyways. You can try embedding pages in divs instead!

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

I dont know what divs is. :)

[mabdese.livejournal.com]

divs are like tables in that they're a way to place/divide content on a page.

http://www.tutorialtastic.co.uk/tutorial/create_a_tableless_layout < a great tutorial for making your first div layout

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

agh... *___* thanks, I guess I'll have to study that for a while

[supergrouper.livejournal.com]

If you want to be able to update your sidebars, etc. all at once without using tables, you can use .php file extensions instead of HTML (but with basically the same coding) and use the divs + php imports to import individual html files to display in the divs- kind of like frames, but without the navigation problems.

I've uploaded an live example of this technique here- http://www.littlesnowfox.com/layouts/swphp/

If you want to poke at the coding, the individual files can be downloaded in a zip file here- http://www.box.net/shared/c3gq01e6hd

I used to use a slight mod of this layout for my own portfolio before I switched to WordPress, so the concept of PHP imports for managing a gallery works pretty well.

[ziggybecket.livejournal.com]

Hehe, I'm redoing my web site too, but mine is more photog/portfolio centric. I'll still watch this post though, maybe there's a design or parts of a design I can steal. O:)

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

well sometimes photog pages serve the same purpose? so if you have any faves!

I look forward to seeing your new site when you're done!

[arletta.livejournal.com]

I really like the look of Wieringo's site that Adriana posted.
But then, with all the finished pieces in some websites, I love seeing site content that shows rough work. :)

Here are some that I like too. Mainly for simplicity.
I don't like flash sites or fancy effects. I just hate waiting for stuff to load. :)

http://www.processrecess.com/
http://www.joshuamiddleton.com/
http://www.edtadem.com/
http://www.karenkrajenbrink.com/
http://kenspeckleletterpress.com/


Me, personally, I don't like this set up:
http://www.kevindalton.com/site/gallery.html
I don't like scrolling over little boxes to see a big thumbnail on the right (or anywhere) and then have to click again to see a bigger picture of the thumbnail. Just too many steps, IMO. Even though it's only a few seconds worth.

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

yeah, I don't like super tiny or mouse over thumbnails either... and some galleries are using flash auto galleries, I'm not a fan of that either. I feel like I shouldnt have to wait for something to load and I don't want popups or things intruding.
I want to have a site menu on every page...

I want to have some larger artwork on the front page and I want my front page to look cleaner and focus on the art more (while still having some textual updates)

... I really really need to scan some of my professional animation artwork.

Some of my faves:
(aside: I don't like EVERYTHING about each of these...)

http://www.joshuamiddleton.com/
http://www.cupojo.net/
http://www.simplestroke.com/wp/?page_id=12
http://www.agent44.com/
http://erimo-works.com/
http://www.artbyfeng.com/gallery.html
http://www.nati-art.com/
http://loish.net/
http://www.svetlania.com/
http://www.tatoomcity.net/
http://www.verabee.com/

and then, this isn't really an "art" page, but
http://johnbarrowman.com/
I like how the flash isn't overpowering. The images used on the main page are classy and soothing looking. It also focuses a lot on the IMAGE, while still having space for "Latest news" and a menu.

[arletta.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, Loish.net and the Johnbarrowman.com site are nice. Really clean, you know? Not a lot of stuff there to confuse you as to where to go when you first see the site.
Agent44 is set up nicely too.

[discofish.livejournal.com]

All three of those sites are flash-based. Which is good because it gives you lots more functionality and makes it harder for people to steal your images. It's also bad because working with and editing Flash content is an entirely different beast than a regular HTML page.

[aimeekitty.livejournal.com]

I haven't used flash since college *_* I'd have to have someone help me do it.

I'd have the images as non-flash though (the actual artwork) because I don't mind if people want to save my pictures.

barrowman's site, part of what is nice about it, is the front page is flash, but the other pages are much simpler. (so it'd be easier for me to update assuming I could do the front page_)