website tips
June 26, 2007Okay, a few posts ago I promised some web tips… how to build an effective website. I am going to qualify this by saying: I am certainly NOT an expert on websites or their effectiveness. And I am going to further qualify this by saying: In fact, I am pretty much a web-idiot. So take these tips at your own risk. (They are pretty general though, so not much risk involved.)
The web session of the HOW conference was taught by Dave Werner of Okaydave.com… I took notes, but not very good ones, because I wasn’t expecting to talk about this later. So, with all that qualifying done, here’s what I learned (what Dave said… or at least my recollection of it):
- Be Honest
Don’t try to be someone you’re not on your website or blog. Don’t promise skills you don’t have. Don’t make claims that are not true. Don’t show work that you did not do. Because sooner or later your facade will crumble. And hey, it’s your website and it should be a reflection of who you are as a person and all the quirky, fun, interesting things that make you you. If you want a job because of your website, you should sell potential employers who you really are… that way you end up getting a job at a place where you can be yourself and not try to fit in some mold of who they think you are. (Dave created okaydave.com to land a job as a creative director, so his speech was based on using your website to get work.)
- Entertainment
Make your website entertaining. More than just “hi. here’s my work. okay, bye.” Put some fun and life into it. Let your personality come through. Entertain your viewers. Can you show your personal projects? Goofy videos of yourself as a kid? Your mad cake-decorting skills? etc…
- Secrets
Build secret places into your website. Like hidden gems that people can stumble upon as they browse your site. It’s kind of fun and gives the viewer the satisfaction of finding something special. (And everyone likes fun surprises.) I think Jenny does a good job with this on her studio page.
- Stories
Don’t just show the work, show how you got there. Tell your story. Show your rough sketches. Walk the viewer through your thinking behind a project. (Here’s an example.) This shows potential employers that you have reasons behind your decisions… you’re not just making pretty designs or ads or illustrations. They are meant to DO something… trigger a response or evoke an emotion, etc. (And yes, I think you’re right: sometimes a thing being pretty is the reasoning. That’s okay too!)
- Diversity
Show your work in a clean, clear way so it’s clear to everyone looking what you do/and why…
- Uniqueness
Make your website unique. Don’t copy someone’s bio and change the name to yours or use the same link list. Again, fit it to YOU. Show why someone should hire you or bookmark you for future work, or whatever.
At that point in Dave’s speech I apparently put a blind-fold on and tried taking notes that way because I can’t friggin’ read my own writing. Darn it all! Sorry…
I guess I will just reiterate by saying again: make your website fit you… tailor it so it fits you like a glove. Show people (or potential employers) who you are and how you think. Show your work in a clean, clear way. Show your thought process behind the work (I need to get better at this).
I think this seems like very obvious stuff. Right? But if you have any questions, please leave a comment and I will do my very best (in my least web-idiotic way) to address it…
cheers!
June 26th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
thank you for this post. it is actually helping me figure things out!
June 26th, 2007 at 7:51 pm
Thanks Penelope!
I pretty much have my site the way I want it, but may add a few quirks here and there. I may add a hand written menu or something, kinda like a sketchbook. Don’t know yet. Or something else…
I’ve got diarrhea of the mouth now, so I’ll leave it at that.
Thanks again!
June 27th, 2007 at 6:23 am
great comments….jenny’s site is really fun!
June 27th, 2007 at 8:46 am
now I am all excited about updating my site with some of these tips! a website is never done…
June 27th, 2007 at 8:53 am
Thanks for sharing these, Penelope! Helping a great deal in trying to figure out how to redo my site.
June 27th, 2007 at 9:01 am
excellent job at summarizing his presentation Penelope. :) Have you explored around Dave’s page? It’s such an entertaining site - it makes you feel like you know him.
June 27th, 2007 at 9:59 am
hey Penelope, thanks for sharing all the tips! i especially like the idea of showing your thought process behind your work. this is helpful as i work on my site update, and i think it will be a good process for me. the one question i’m wondering is about how to show work/portfolio best…in a slideshow, pop-ups, etc…how big should the full image be? how many images to show? how to best categorize them (editorial, book, licensed, etc.)? if you have any thoughts on these, i’d love to hear and/or talk.
also, dave’s site is inspiring…hmmm…it might be fun to make a little “home-studio movie”! wouldn’t that be fun if we all had one on our site–we’d feel like we know each other without ever meeting. thanks again. jenny ps thanks for sharing my studio!
June 27th, 2007 at 5:56 pm
Hi Jenny: I think how you show your portfolio is just a matter of what works for you… I’ve seen good portfolios both ways: slideshow and popups. But I personally, like to be able to pick and choose which image I click on in a portfolio (so thumbnails are good in my opinion). And I dislike popping up new windows and then having to close them to look at someone’s work (like my portfolio was just a few weeks ago). I like also to be able to push a next button or back button so you can get to the work you like at your own pace…
As far as size… I think it should be big enough to see it in a clear way, but small enough to not be stolen (so jpegs are good). I worry when people put high resolution pdfs on their sites… anyone can use that. So I think a good size is somewhere within 500-600 pixels. (That also looks good on a laptop which has a smaller screen.)
And categories: I struggle with this a lot. Do you break it up into different portfolios or just show one big portfolio? And how do you (or do you at all) show the work in context? I’m not sure… I think that again, it’s just about how you want to present your work. (Personally, I’d like to show the work in context and am trying to figure out a good way to do that… not sure yet!)
:)
August 30th, 2007 at 1:17 pm
Hi!
Here is another Tipp: Buy a videosearchscript and plug it into you website. You can configure these scripts to search and display the best videos from youtube and myspace according to your peronal preferences. You can build up your own Web-TV Channel!