Intent
The intent is to give a clear representation of who he is as an artist and display his work.
Voice
- Clean
- Sophisticated
- Precise
- Minimal
- Modern
Tone
The tone is rather similar from page to page. He keeps a very minimal aesthetic to the whole site, with a clear-cut layout formula applied to each section with informational text and images. However, some pages feature much less text and far more images, and vice versa.
The home page is the most tonally different because he features a splash page with one large photo filling the screen, his name, and a menu bar below. It is meant to be an enticing, upfront introduction that this is the type of work you will be seeing and have all the options ready to go, as to not waste any time or confusion. Once you pass through the home page, all other pages are very refined with a lot more white space with small, thin text and small photos as well.
The bio page is odd to me, because it has another large photo covering half the screen, and larger text in a different font than found anywhere else inside the site. This reads as less sophisticated and not as considered as the rest of the pages.
Brand
Hashimoto’s artwork is very complex and wondrous because of the scale of his installation pieces. However, to contrast that, his brand communicated through his website is very minimal. This juxtaposition works very well because it presents his work in a very simple, non-overwhelming manner that is very to-the-point while still being aesthetically pleasing. You feel through all the negative space that his work is of high quality and leaves you desiring to know more.
Personas
Example #1: Museums
Elizabeth Brown, a museum curator, visited the Studio le Citta museum in Verona, Italy and saw Hashimoto’s exhibit “The Heartbeat of Irreducible Curves” on display. Immediately intrigued by the artistry, she wants to know more because she believes something like this would fit perfectly in her museum.
She would be attracted to the site for its sophisticated voice and impressed by all of Hashimoto’s past and current exhibitions. His descriptions inform Elizabeth of his concepts and the type of work he creates, although she wishes he included some more specifics with the visuals, like medium and scale. However, there is enough content for her to reach out for a meeting.
Example #2: Potential Clients
Arabella Lucas owns a large, trendy, upscale restaurant in Hells Kitchen and is looking for an artist to commission to create a piece to hang down from the ceiling as the center focus of the main dining room. She is surfing the web and stumbles upon Jacob Hashimoto’s website. His art seems to be exactly what she’s looking for.
She loves the fact that he is very familiar with site specific original work, which is made clear on his site. Arabella doesn’t like that her only method of contact through the website is to fill out an inquiry form, but she reaches out anyway to start a conversation and see if he would be interested.
Example #3: Students
My name is Rebecca Foote and I am a fashion design student at Parsons School of Design. I am currently working on my thesis project which is heavily inspired by origami. In my research for current, relevant artists, I found Hashimoto and thought his art was really cool. Although he doesn’t actually do origami, I am very drawn to his work because of his materiality and technique: he handcrafts using materials like rice paper and bamboo. His use of depth, color, and form inspires me as well for my own thesis experimentation.
In regards to his website, I like how minimal it is because that is something I hope to have reflected in my own website. I think his bio page could use some work, and I don’t necessarily love how his works are displayed in a list that you scroll through. However, it is a good starting point for me and I’m sure I will be revisiting his site in the near future.
Copy Deck
Title:
JACOB HASHIMOTO
Header (Menu Options):
- BIO
- EXHIBITIONS
- SITE SPECIFIC COMMISSIONS
- SELECTED ARCHIVE
- VIDEOS