Designing Beautiful Artist Websites - 12 Tips To Showcase Your Art

1. Who needs an artists website?Think of the colors you would use in a physical
Not everyone! If you are currently exhibiting ingallery to showcase your work –neutral
multiple high-end galleries andmaking a handsomecolors like crèmes, whites and grays are
income, a website may not be for you. In fact, itnormally safe. Black can also looksurprisingly good
might actuallywork against you – some– it has the effect of totally focusing the
galleries may not like the perceived threat of youattention on the art itself
showingyour work independently on the internet.• Lean towards a minimalist layout –
Better to make use of youra “busy” site design will normally
gallery’swebsites.detract fromthe work.
On the other hand, any artist who can classify• Choose fonts, logos to harmonize with
themselves as either “emerging” orthe work
“mid-career” will probably benefit• Copy should create the underlying feeling
from having their own website to promoteor environment for the site – it cancreate a
theirwork. At this stage of your career it issense of mystery or openness to compliment the
important to be able to have a placefeeling of the art.
whereanyone in the world can easily access and• Use high quality images from
view your work. It is also important thatyourprofessionally photographed work – the
work looks as wonderful as you know it is!“Garbage in
2. Who are you trying to impress?– garbage out” principle applies here
Are you trying to engage a Soho gallery to selltoo!
your $20,000 paintings or sell $5prints to children8. How will customers and galleries find my
in Korea? “Art” encompasses a hugewebsite?
variety of media, audiences,and budgets, and youThere are really three primary ways that
need to be very clear about who you aresomeone would find your website. Theycould find
targeting with yoursite. That Soho gallery mightyou through a search engine like Google. Typically
not be impressed when they see yourafter your site hasbeen up for a couple of
online-storeselling prints and art cards – butmonths, search engines will find you easily if
on the other hand, you could make asomeone wasto perform a search on your name.
veryhandsome living if you really knew how toLets say however that your work is classified as
market those art cards. If you want tohave“Southwestern Art” and someone
multiple marketing strategies, you might evendida search on that term. It is very unlikely that
need to think about more thanone website andyour site would be listed in the first fewresults
maybe using a non-de-plume.pages because there are so many other sites in
3. How should your website fit in with your overallcompetition. Getting yourwork to show up in the
art marketing strategy?top results of such a search will require
This is maybe the most important question youoptimization of thewebsite for search engines
will need to consider in developing awebsiteduring the design process AND a lot of work
presence. A website is not an end in itself –from youafterwards to link your site to as many
it is only really effective when itis part of a largerpossible relevant sites on the internet. This isa lot
overall marketing strategy for your art. Thisof effort – no matter what anyone tells
would include old-style hard-copy portfolios, lots ofyou!
in-person gallery visits and presentations, regularThe next way that people will find your site is
(physical) showings of your work, and developingvery simple – you will tell them!
relationships with the art world.Example Phone Conversation with Gallery dealer:
An effectively planned website can greatlyDealer (Bob): That sounds nice Michelle but
compliment and simplify your othermarketingI’m a very busy person. I’d prefer
efforts.totake a look at your work before we arrange a
4. Is there a real market for art on the internet?meeting. Do you have a website I couldlook at?
There is art business transacting on the internet,Michelle: Well of course Bob, please check out my
although we have not been able tofind reliablework at [
statistics on the level of sales or theDealer (Bob): OK Michelle – let me just take
segmentation of the market intosales of originalsa look. …….. Oh My gosh,
and reproductions. It is probably fair to say thatwhatawesome work! I’ve never seen
well-known workfrom established artists will sellanything like it. I’m sending out a truck right
because this art has a known market-value.awayto come and pick up your work. Do you
Foremerging artists, the picture is more complexaccept credit cards – I’d like to pay
– there is something to theexperience of anyou
original work of art that can never be seen or felt$100,000 right away so that I don’t miss
on a computerscreen.this chance. And would Tuesday at 12noon be
The sale of reproductions is another issue –convenient for an interview with Art in America?
their lower cost makes them a less riskygambleWell – we can dream! But you get the idea.
for the customer especially if your websiteThis is actually the most powerful way wehave
provides a satisfactory returnpolicy.found to make use of a website. If you think of
One thing is for sure – it will be increasinglyyour audience you are probablygoing to require a
important to have a website presenceas an artisthighly focused marketing campaign to a relatively
as more buyers become comfortable with thesmall numberof potential clients and partners.
internet.Of course you might build your art career around
5. Should I have my own website or should Iselling thousands of reproductions
simply use one of the many artistwebsite– in which case understanding how to rank
portfolio services?highly with search engines is important.
This is an excellent question. There are manyAnother way to tell people website is to
great artists website portfolio servicesavailableparticipate in online forums. There are anumber of
online today. As an example, check out Absolutethese – some specializing in art subjects. If
Artsyou become visible in someof these forums
( and Artspan ( These services are reallyonlinepeople will check your website.
galleries where for a variable fee you can uploadEmail marketing is yet another way to tell people
images of your worktogether with bios, artistabout your site. You can usemailing lists you have
statements, resumes, etc. The advantage of thisdeveloped yourself, or you can purchase email
type ofapproach is that it is amailing lists. Inaddition, Rich-Text emails allow you
“connector” site – meaningto showcase your work as beautifully
that a lot of people visit thereincluding dealers,designedimages – just like a web-page.
galleries, etc. That doesn’t mean that theyThe third primary way in which people will find
will actually see yourwork as there are thousandsyour website is through on-lineadvertising. For
of artists represented by these services –example, if your art is minimalist and modern in
but there is achance.style, a banner addon an interior design website
A great example of the value of this type offocused on the same minimalist ethic could draw a
website was the jurying process for thelotof traffic to your site. Some artists have
2005 Florence Biennale. Hundred of artists wereexperienced considerable success in thisway!
selected simply because their worklooked great9. Do I need to be able to sell my work on the
and they had it available to see on these largeinternet?
connector sites. Wethink that this type of juryAnother important question. It really depends on
process will become more prevalent in the futurewhat you are selling. If you want tosell originals
asgalleries and show curators become moresavvyfor thousands of dollars, our experience suggests
with the internet.that a buyer willprobably want to see your work
The down side to these gallery-sites is that therein-person, or have an existing relationship withyou.
is no flexibility to show your workthey way youIn which case you could easily transact the sale
would like to and their selling fees are normallyover the phone.
very high.On the other hand, if part of your business model
Remember the times you’ve been takenis to sell inexpensivereproductions, you probably
into the dimmer room in a commercialgallery?would want to have at least basic
How that art which looked fairly good on the maine-commercecapability on your site. That way,
gallery wall suddenlybecame something you had tobusiness can be transacted on the site
take home under your arm? That is how aregularlywithout you having to personally
goodwebsite should showcase your work too.supervise each sale – you still need time to
Choices of background color, layout, imagesizebe anartist remember J
and quality, fonts, logos and text all combine toTo some customers, the fact that you have an
represent your work in themost beautiful way.e-commerce capable website alsosignals that you
That is what you can have with your ownare “real” and “a serious
website – as well ascomplete control.business”.
Another advantage is that if you want to sellSome people still have issues with purchasing over
your work online it ismuch less expensive to do itthe internet, but it is becoming atrusted buying
from your own site.environment.
For our art we use both website options and we10. Should I develop my own website or pay a
find they compliment each othervery nicely!designer?
6. What do galleries and art dealers like to seeIt really depends. Some things to bear in mind:
when they look at an artist website?• Do you have visual design skills/training?
Galleries have about as many views of how workBe honest - Many great artists don’t J
should be showcased as there arestars in the sky.• When do you want the site ready (Next
But the wonderful thing is that these skills andmonth or next year?)
preferences havebeen developed through the• How much of your artist-time can you
process of really selling art. Don’t everafford to give up to develop the site andwhat is
under-estimatethe experience and skill required tothe $ value of that time?
do this consistently – at Beautiful Websites• Will you need to invest in new software
Foror even a new computer to do the work?
Artists we take out hats off to good art• Will you need to invest time and/or
salespeople.money in software training?
There are, however, some common elements11. What should I look for in choosing a
which most dealers and gallerieswould agree onwebsite-designer?
which could be summarized as follows:The most important thing here is to remember
• Keep it simple and elegantwhat you are trying to create – mostlikely
• Keep the focus on the art itselfyou want a beautiful online gallery space to
• Don’t overpower the look of theelegantly show your beautifulwork – this is
art with a site that looks too busyvery different from building a high-volume website
• Be VERY careful ofselling printer inkcartridges and paper rolls!
“Designerish” effects like flashSo, simply put, you should not be interested in
movies. In the time it takes toplay your exotictechnical jargon as much as theability to design a
flash-based entry page, the gallery will havespace to present your work. You might also want
already moved on tolook at the next artiststo consider adesigner proficient in both web and
website.print-based design. That way, should youchoose
• Everything you would have in a hard-copyto, you can coordinate the look and feel of all
portfolio should be there – bios,your marketing materials –website,
artiststatements, resumes, etc as well as clearletterhead, brochures, etc.
information on how to contact you byphone,Also be careful of some “high-end”
email, fax, and snail-mail.designers. If you take a look at some
• Be aware of the potential positive orwebsitesfrom design firms, you will notice a lot of
negative reaction you might experiencevisual complexity and sometimes high-tech
fromselling reproductions of your work online.effects that can be cumbersome and slow. This
Some galleries will be impressed that youarewill not showcase your art wellas it draws
obviously business-savvy enough to be able to sellattention to the design rather than the art!
your work in this way. Othersmight consider it aThere is no getting around it - you have to do
threat to any potential sales relationship theyyour homework!
might have withyou.12. How much does a website cost to develop??
7. How can I showcase my work in the mostAn art website could cost you anything from a
beautiful way?few hundred dollars to many tens ofthousands of
There is really no getting away from the factdollars. Typically, the bigger design firms have
that you need to have visual designskills to createlarger overheads andwill be significantly more
a beautiful artist website. One of the mainexpensive. On the other hand, Joe down the
reasons we startedstreet canprobably build you a website for $200
Beautiful Websites For Artists was because we– but you probably don’t want that
were tired of seeing so muchbeautiful artwebsite J
showcased so poorly on some of the ugliestAt Beautiful Websites For Artists we have
websites you could hopeto find!packages ranging from $500 to $2000 forsimple
That said, here are some basic thoughts:elegant artists websites with different levels of
• Keep the website simple and elegantfunctionality. We can alsodevelop fully customized
• Keep the focus on the art itselfsites to your specifications with prices based
• Structure the site into different galleriesonrequirements.
and sections to compliment the workIn addition to development costs, you will need to
–don’t put everything on a fewpay monthly web-hosting andecommerce fees
pages. Think of a gallery with different exhibitionthat could range from less that $5/month for a
andinformation spaces.simple sight to
• Choose a background color that$100/month for a site with complex ecommerce
compliments and does not overpower the work.functionality.