Continued from Part 1: Inspiration
So you’ve got your inspiration and have an idea of what your online portfolio should do for you, but how do you actually build it? The easy, but most expensive way is to hire a professional web designer. However, for many artists this is not a viable option at the beginning of a career. There are still many options available, some require little or no technical web knowledge, and others require a basic understanding of installing a website with a mySQL database. Don’t worry if you don’t know what that is, there are plenty of resources online for figuring out how to setup a website.
Indexhibit
Indexhibit is a favorite among artists and designers for several reasons. First, is that it’s very simple, almost to the point of invisibility. The no-bells-and-whistles approach of Indexhibit leaves the artists’ work to speak for itself. Second, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to set it up. Many artists are able to get it setup themselves with very little knowledge of web design, they even have an installation for dummies guide on their website.
A few great examples using indexhibit:
Wordpress
Wordpress is generally considered a blog platform, but can be configured into a nice portfolio if the right theme is applied. The bonus of using Wordpress for your portfolio is that you can use the same site as a blog. A blog can be used to show off images that inspire you, poetry, everyday stories or sketchbook images. There are no limits as to what a blog can be used for, and the great thing for artists is that it can give potential clients or curators insight into your personality or aesthetic, which can occasionally help you get gigs, or at least help people get to know you.
2 great portfolio themes are:
You can find help getting started with Wordpress at the Codex. If all else fails, Google your issue, chances are very high your problem has been encountered and solved before.
A few additional plugins that can create nice portfolios on wordpress are Lightbox 2 and SlideDeck.
Lightbox2 will give you this effect:
An example of SlideDeck:
Tumblr
Tumblr is easy to use and can be customized to your needs with different themes. A great way for an artist to use tumblr is to use a theme similar to this (Cargo theme).
Then choose 15 pieces to show with captions. This is a very easy option and doesn’t require many technical skills to setup. You can also choose to leave your site at the tumblr domain (e.g. tumblr.com/philsportfolio) if you are not interested in having your own domain for your portfolio.
Hosted Blog
Create a simple blog on Blogger, Wordpress.com or Posterous for a blog style portfolio. This is a good way to show off work in chronological order and requires very little technical know-how. A good example of a blog as portfolio is Daily Drop Cap, showing off the hand-lettering skills of Jessica Hische.
BÄ“hance & Linkedin
The BÄ“hance Network and Linkedin have teamed up so you can now show your BÄ“hance portfolio on your Linkedin page. Get accounts at both websites to get started.
& Beyond
More complex websites that will require a web designer or in-depth knowledge of web design:
Flash - Can create beautiful and interactive websites, but tend to be very expensive and are useless if you ever want to do SEO.
Drupal - Can handle more complex functions than Wordpress, but again will come at a higher price point.
HTML - HTML can be made very simple and still very beautiful, to get started with an html website visit w3schools.com.
There are unlimited ways of creating online portfolios, the ones mentioned here are just a taste into the online portfolio world, but should get anybody started. You can always upgrade after you sell a few paintings!
