Step 1: Develop Your Idea
A portfolio site that highlights both my photography work as well as my design work. It would be an implied split screen, so that when you scroll down, pieces on the left are design and pieces on the right are photo; work that has some overlap would be closer to the middle. In that way it is both a map of the type of work and a way to display it.
Navigation would be normal, but have ‘subject matter’ extensions. For example, a photo page on ‘water’ would have water-related design elements shown to the side as you scroll so that you are prompted during the scroll to explore further rather than waiting for the end with a ‘show more’
Overall this would not be that radical as it needs to be direct, but it would focus on weaving in photo and design more organically
Step 2: Research
I visited websites of competitors that I admire. I wanted to look into people who’s work is aspiration and inspirational to me and see how they present.
I enjoyed the editorial layout style of this webpage. I want to incorporate some of the spirit of this into my own page, but with more writing. This site highlights the youthful feel and airy lightness of the photography, which gives a positive user experience in line with the images.
She does not do a great job of incorporating writing. I would like to take that editorial aesthetic and imbibe it with more writing to create something more approachable.
Jenna is a friend, and so I have some idea of how she goes about her work. Her website is clean and has a lot on the main page, which is good because a user can quickly scan and see the information that they need to get in order to proceed, especially if they are a potential customer.
The more gadget-y features like galleries and links are done tastefully and are not ‘in your face’ as many gallery sites can be.
Much of it is center aligned which can feel a little hard to read when scanning. It takes my eye to pricing options rather than portfolio for example, so the navigation is not as strong.
From this, I would take away that the navigation needs to be stacked together rather than spread out over a page.
This photographer does very beautiful, dreamy work and has agency representative. Because of that, they have someone outside the website to help with promotion.
The website itself is very clean, with an entry page. The gallery is stacked with an open navigation on the side. Overall it is clean, crisp and easy to navigate - and straightforward which is great in a photo site. However, there is too much content on the homepage and it gets repetitive. It would be better to show best 10 then a mass of 100+ images.
Step 3: Target Your Audience
Target audience is generally people aged 27-50. They would be the ones in charge of hiring me, either as a photographer directly (which often is with smaller brands, weddings, lifestyle; skews younger) or as a photographer on behalf of a larger company. If I am being hired directly, it is likely from females who came across me via social media. If I am being hired on behalf of a larger company, it would be as a part of a hiring team that goes through HR, potential bosses and coworkers and beyond. This should have broad appeal and be easy to use, but can still be stylistic or unique in some way as it is meant to advertise me.
In general, these are users who are comfortable with the internet. They are not experimental internet users, so they would be looking for simple navigations and an easy-to-use site. They would likely look through many sites, and need the information to be apparent quickly and immediately.
Step 4: a moodboard
Straight photo, emphasis on like-colors for homepage and general navigation. Beachy, airy feel.
more funky, colorful and vibrant
Step 5: Thumbnails
Step 6: Wireframes
Step 7: Mockups
