You Might Need a Website
No matter how internet or computer savvy we are somethings are just not easy to do. Most artists that I have talked to do not admit to being very computer savvy which is understandable since we have so much to learn and do with our chosen medium. Even people who use computers for their art like graphic designers and photographers can't always code a webpage.
Having a website built can be expensive. Even when you can afford the initial cost of the website you'll occasionally need to update it with new images of your work or maybe show dates or venues where your art is sold. This problem has resulted in all sorts of creative solutions the least of which is not having a web presents at all. That's a bad idea because it means you'll be very difficult to find which means it may be harder to sell your work.
Some people just use a blog. Blogger and wordpress are both free options that you can customize to give them something of your own look. They do have the advantage of being easy to maintain and update. If you like to write blog posts you can even create conversations with other artists or people who are interested in your art. And it's fun. The thing is, you have to be really smart about how you design it. If you're going to be using it to showcase your work to art shows and galleries you have to make it easy for the busy curator to find images of your work. You may also want to make it easy for people to purchase your work from your site, or at least find out where they can go to make a purchase, be it an online site like Etsy or a gallery.
Not long ago I was looking at a website of a person who claimed to be a creative director. The site was full of examples of really terrific work but I would never hire her to build my website or an advertisement for me. Not because she's not good but because the website has no contact information. I couldn't contact her if I wanted to. It looks to me like the site was built in wordpress which makes me think it might be a homemade site with a very important detail forgotten. It's a shame.
It's also possible to use a free website, a google search will give you lots of options. These are lost leaders by companies that want to sell you a premium hosting package which might or might not be a worthwhile investment. Most of them offer some nice templates that you can use to create the look and feel you want and might even help you to remember to add your email address to the webpage.
No matter what you do, it's good to have a web presence that is not exclusively Facebook. If you have to build your own please give it the same effort, commitment and quality that you give to your art. It is a reflection of you and your art after all.
Check out the gallery page - Future Relics Gallery by Lori Buff
Having a website built can be expensive. Even when you can afford the initial cost of the website you'll occasionally need to update it with new images of your work or maybe show dates or venues where your art is sold. This problem has resulted in all sorts of creative solutions the least of which is not having a web presents at all. That's a bad idea because it means you'll be very difficult to find which means it may be harder to sell your work.
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| Future Relics Webpage |
Some people just use a blog. Blogger and wordpress are both free options that you can customize to give them something of your own look. They do have the advantage of being easy to maintain and update. If you like to write blog posts you can even create conversations with other artists or people who are interested in your art. And it's fun. The thing is, you have to be really smart about how you design it. If you're going to be using it to showcase your work to art shows and galleries you have to make it easy for the busy curator to find images of your work. You may also want to make it easy for people to purchase your work from your site, or at least find out where they can go to make a purchase, be it an online site like Etsy or a gallery.
Not long ago I was looking at a website of a person who claimed to be a creative director. The site was full of examples of really terrific work but I would never hire her to build my website or an advertisement for me. Not because she's not good but because the website has no contact information. I couldn't contact her if I wanted to. It looks to me like the site was built in wordpress which makes me think it might be a homemade site with a very important detail forgotten. It's a shame.
It's also possible to use a free website, a google search will give you lots of options. These are lost leaders by companies that want to sell you a premium hosting package which might or might not be a worthwhile investment. Most of them offer some nice templates that you can use to create the look and feel you want and might even help you to remember to add your email address to the webpage.
No matter what you do, it's good to have a web presence that is not exclusively Facebook. If you have to build your own please give it the same effort, commitment and quality that you give to your art. It is a reflection of you and your art after all.
Check out the gallery page - Future Relics Gallery by Lori Buff
on my to do list to have a website built for my work this year
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