The Professional Photoshop Book 11
- CREATE A STRONG WEB PRESENCE
Having a good website is essential, so that potential
clients can find out more about you, view your work and
have confidence that you can deliver what they need.
Architectural visualiser Iain Banks has a simple, but
inspiring website at http://www.iainbanks.com, and he has
some invaluable advice to aspiring artists: “I first put
my website together at university to upload portfolio
pieces. Back then it was all HTML code and specialist
software such as Dreamweaver, which was very good,
but almost needed a degree in itself to master.
Nowadays, however, there is an abundant array of
online portfolio management services such as Cargo
Collective, Square Space and Wordpress. All of these
allow you to create a website in minutes and host your
artwork online with streamlined templates that can be
easily edited to personal preferences.
“Young digital artists should look out for these
platforms and begin with the basic free option. From
there, once you need a bit more gallery space as your
portfolio increases in size, you should consider
upgrading to a paid account. Next, you should consider
spreading your work onto other blogs and social- ENGAGE POTENTIAL CLIENTS WITH A BLOG
Adding a blog to your website can add interest and
personality, as well as attract those all-important
clients, as photographer Derek Johnston (www.
derek-johnston.co.uk/blog) explains: “People love
reading about you and finding out about you. It
brings you closer onto a more personal level and
makes you a real person to them. I have a lot of
returning visitors. My blog is something that I really
enjoy doing too. I do a lot of ‘How I made this
image’ type posts; it’s nice for potential clients to
see how my work is created. After all, those are
the people who will most likely be in the photo, so
having them understand how it all works is
essential. You want them to arrive at the shoot
knowing what’s going on and just enjoy it, not
standing around against a plain backdrop looking
confused with lights flashing around them. It’ll pay
you hugely in the outcome of the final piece.”media, such as Facebook, Twitter and Adobe’s
Behance network, which is particularly useful. This is a
great platform to show off your work as well as
comment and follow the work of fellow
industry professionals.
“I chose to go with Cargo Collective and have kept
the layout of my website very simple to aid navigation.
New artists should consider carefully what to show on
their site, focusing on only uploading your best work
and then spreading it as much as possible to get
maximum exposure.”Clear portfolio: Make sure that
it is easy for potential clients to find your work and keep it in
a simple format so that it is easy to view at a glance. You
may lose interest if they have to hunt to find samples of workAbout page: You should have a brief, but
informative description of yourself and your work that is easy to find. List any
important achievements as well (such as Iain’s Awards & Publications section) –
remember this acts as your online CVSocial links: Iain clearly links to his
Facebook and Twitter profiles, which, in this social-media heavy
era, is very important, as clients will often look to find out more about
the artist as well as the workContact:– make it a section that is Be easy to contact
easy to find from any page of your website, as no client
wants to have to hunt to find an email address© Derek Johnston Photography15 insider secrets for industry success