For many digital artists, social media is where they get the most exposure and the most clients if they accept things like commissions or freelance work. After all, everybody’s on social media these days. If you want your art to get noticed, you need to go where the people go. But sometimes, social media isn’t enough, and it isn’t the best place for artists to show off their work.
For one, most social media sites aren’t formatted with artists’ best interests in mind, nor do they have the right algorithms. For instance, Twitter doesn’t automatically archive tweets, nor does it have any tagging or archiving systems that allow old artwork and posts to still be visible even after a long time. There are hardly any sites optimized specifically for artists to display their art, and the few that remain have been rendered obsolete, with a minimal user base.
For digital artists to display their artwork, they’d have to create their own website specifically designed to be their own online portfolio. But where do you actually begin? If you’re a digital artist or an artist of any kind looking to display your work online, here are six tips to get you started.
Find a Unique Domain Name
A domain name is pretty self-explanatory. It’s the name of your portfolio’s site, the name that shows up in search results, and the name that you link to people to bring them to the site. Nowadays, domain names are very cheap and affordable, and you’ll be able to buy one for little to no trouble at all.
You want your domain name to be unique and to stand out. If you have an artist’s handle, then you can use that. Just make sure that it isn’t too similar to an already existing domain that might be more well-known than yours. Whatever you decide on, you want to ensure that your domain name is uniquely yours and goes well with both your art and yourself.
Find a Hosting Service
Now that you’ve got a domain name, it’s time to find a website hosting service. When making your own website, you must find a company or a service that can host the site for you, especially if you’re new to all this. You can find plenty of the best web hosting companies online, some with very reasonable and affordable prices. You also want to check its accessibility features, how user-friendly it is, and its security.
Select Your Best Work
When picking out your portfolio, you always want to put your best works forward. After all, you want to be judged based on what you do successfully, not what you’re bad at. And yes, you do need to show off what you think are your best works if you plan to submit your portfolio for jobs or other work-related endeavors. But sometimes, showing off your rougher or more sketchy ideas and concepts doesn’t hurt either.
Showing only your best while hiding your worst creates the misconception that you’re incapable of doing anything else but your best. While this certainly must be the impression you want to make to potential employers, people want to see a side of vulnerability to you and your work. Otherwise, you might seem standoffish, impossibly perfect, or even predictable. Don’t be afraid to show off some rough sketches or half-done pieces, even if you think they’re bad. Some people like seeing these kinds of styles or the imperfect side of an artist. It makes you seem more human, plus it’s even better if you have a story behind it.
Choose the Right Theme and Design
So now you have a domain name, found a service to host your site, and have a few of your works ready to be uploaded. Now it’s time to decide on your site’s overall theme and design. Your site’s design is important because it’s the first thing visitors will see when they arrive. It can create a good or bad impression on them and will affect the way they view your art or the way they view you as an artist if it isn’t to their liking.
Your design’s theme needs to tie in neatly to your artwork and yourself as an artist. Moreover, you want all your art to be easily accessible, seen, and arranged in the most optimal way possible. You can try your hand at designing your own website if you have some coding experience. Otherwise, you can check out digital marketing sites like zipzipe.com to hire a professional who can do all the work for you. Whatever the case, just make sure to find a design that complements your art and your own artistic vision.
Update Your Portfolio When You Need To
So you’ve got your website and your portfolio set up. That’s good! Now it’s time to keep it updated. Have you been experimenting with a new style or medium lately? Do you think you’ve improved over time and have new works that you consider your best? Make sure to update your portfolio every once in a while with more recent, better work so that people who come back to look at it see new things all the time. It helps to update all your information, too, such as when you switch to a new e-mail address or phone number.
Final Thoughts
Remember that the purpose of an artist’s portfolio is to show off an artist’s talent and skill to the world. So don’t be afraid to show what you’re good at and even stuff you’re not very good at yet but are steadily improving on. An artist’s portfolio can be a testament to their journey and vision, and the right domain and design can make all the difference.
