Artist Post: Website Design

As it has been difficult to pick a particular artist that caught my interest, I decided to go into a few popular artist websites to compare and contrast, to see what does and does not work for each of them. 

David Wenzel

http://www.davidwenzel.com

I mentioned David Wenzel's work in a previous post, but I wanted to take another look at his site for its originality and ingenuity. One element that I will likely parody in my own website is the "enter" page that one must click on to enter locate Wenzel's information. Already Wenzel is forcing the viewer to engage with his page- which is a frequent element in his site. I love the visual imagery of his website- the art definitely takes precedent. The movement that he adds to the characters that decorate his pages are fun and interesting, but they do not distract from the information on the site. Wenzel's personality is amicably portrayed through the depiction of his website, which is something that I hope to emulate in my own website.

Julie Kagawa

http://juliekagawa.com/iron-fey

Julie Kagawa's author site is similarly visually engaging. The viewer is first presented with an overawing image that truly sets a tone for the website. She leaves a lot of the information to be accessed on the left with a nifty side bar and sub-categories that allow a viewer to sift through many layers of information. There are many different options provided in how a viewer can peruse a website-- this allows for people to travel it differently, depending on how they think. The meaty information is found later at the bottom after scrolling down-- I'm not sure if I'd want to stuff my own information so far in the back of the website.

Amy Mebberson

http://amymebberson.com

Amy Mebberson's approach is a little more direct. We are launched into her page, given first a few illustrations of her skill, and then information detailing exhibitions and social media connections. In my own site I hope to employ connections to other social media outlets so that my site is associated with my other websites. With less color composition in her background, the viewer can really focus in on her bright illustrations. While this works for her purpose, I feel like I would want my images to be larger and more integral to my website. I do like how she categorizes all of her art at the bottom of the page. This allows the viewer to find the type of art they are looking for with ease. 

With these sites as my guide, I will hopefully be able to synthesize the elements that I like from each to make my own website work.