Design and development of a portfolio website for a Canadian artist
Client
GDL Drawings
Timeline
2021– 2022
Project
Decreasing clickstream
Role
Freelance UI/UX designer
Tech
Company
User
Challenge
Role and constraints
THE CLIENT
Giuseppe, Artist and Teacher
Over 40 years, Giuseppe has practiced drawing and watercolour, participated in a many exhibitions, curated at the Warren G. Flowers Art Gallery, and taught at Concordia University and Dawson College.
THE AUDIENCE
Perception through the curator’s gaze
Art gallery curators and critiques look to display art that speaks to cultural conversations. In this way, they will often search for seasoned creators with a large body of work.
USER DEEP DIVE
Managing volume within artwork selection
Artwork selection is a curator’s most critical role. They consider several factors when choosing art:
Relevance
Craft
Diversity
Availability
Significance
Conservation
THE CHALLENGE
A collection that never was
The artist lacked a digital copy of his collection, despite having taken many photographs of his work. This reduced his exhibition acceptance rate, which is necessary for new commissions of his drawings.
For users, every click counts
Day-to-day: managing disruptions
Jumping into unknown case files
Errors cause missed care
User work made easier by scannable data
Portfolio as a PDF is unprofessional, and didn’t accurately promote his maturity as an artist.
His collection lacked centralization, as some works were public and some were kept private.
His portfolio lacked browseability, as his works were neither grouped nor categorized.
Overall? He suffered from the absence of a digital archive that displays a complete and browseable collection.
MY ROLE AND CONSTRAINTS
Drawing a new plan for the new archive
There were specific responsibilities and constraints that I faced taking on this project:
Index
Platform
Marketing
Assets
Budget
To address all this, he and I worked together on a roadmap addressing the client’s needs and timeline.
Research findings
Ideation and design
Testing
THE RESEARCH
Observing the art portfolio landscape
The research I collected took the form of 2 methodologies:
Competitor analysis
User interviews
Competitor analysis
Landing pages display moderate variety of works
Long menus create a bulky viewing UX
Image height detached from browser height reality
User Interviews
Conducted 2 end-user interviews
“Sarah”
“Alex”
USER DEEP DIVE
Curating users’ feedback and opinions
The user interviews topics covered and produced:
3 workflows
4 findings
3 proposals
Sarah
Sarah is an experienced art gallery curator who has been working in the art world for over 15 years. She manages a well-known gallery in a major city and has a strong reputation for curating successful exhibitions.
Prefers portfolio websites that provide comprehensive information about the artist’s background, artistic influences, and artistic statement
Looks for a well-maintained, up-to-date online presence that demonstrates the artist’s commitment to their practice
Strong written presence, artistic statement and biography
Website links to social media platforms
Alex
Alex is a younger gallery curator who recently joined a smaller, up-and-coming gallery promoting emerging artists. They have a few years of experience in the art industry and are eager to make a mark.
Looks for websites that are visually engaging, showcasing the artist’s unique style and personality
Appreciates artist statements that convey a strong sense of purpose and perspective
Demonstrate detail and in-progress sketch images
IDEATION
Sketching a new archive
From my research, it became clear that an archive website was needed. In addition to displaying artworks as large images, the research also suggested the new site needed a strong written presence, such as a biography and artistic statements.
Digital page-turning
Client imagined a “coffee-table book” experience. To simulate this, I deployed CSS Scroll Snapping.
Wireframing
Home page
Collection: themed series with artistic statement
Displayed artwork pieces
End-state designs
Impacts
Personal learnings
END STATE DESIGNS
Framing the digital gallery
The development of the website involved one long iteration of numerous image and text revisions. The site launched in January 2022. Later on in the same year, the French language site was created.
Menu
Collection: themed series with artistic statement
Displayed artwork pieces
Experience
IMPACTS
Putting the archive to work
The website launch coincided with the re-opening of galleries post-COVID. The site was well received by the local community and has led to a number of client successes.
Sold 13 commissions
Participated in 7 exhibitions
Invited to artist residency in Málaga, Spain
Web UI/UX design
Thank you for reading about my process!
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Hello!
This is the portfolio website of Andrew Di Leo.
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