In a midst of a global pandemic, I decided that it is the perfect time to launch my very first personal website. I wanted to create an online portfolio and a space that is super-extra-me.
I looked for inspiration through the pages of some of my favorite freelance animators and illustrators. What I discovered is that they had a lot in common: they all had a more simplistic, straightforward design with a single strong illustration/animation on the landing page. They all had few categories – reel, personal work and about or animation, illustration, and about page.
I use bright colors in my work, and I love colorful designs, but when it comes to customer experience interfaces, I prefer minimalism. I decided to go with a simple outlook of the page and divide my side into four groups: animation, illustration, shop where I sell my prints, and an about page where I will have my CV and a short intro.
I asked a friend of mine for help with the whole set up. The side is built in WordPress because it is user-friendly, and I can manage it by myself after the initial design phase. This is the first design I made as a reference for him:
As you can see, my site looks pretty much exactly like it.
On my animation page, I uploaded my first showreel ( 2020 is all about first-time things for me) and the gifs I have been making in my free time.
The illustration page has a selection of my favorite illustrations from the last months, and it will be updated regularly as my style changes constantly but I want to show more diversity in my work.
Shop section – decided to keep it limited to ten prints and leave an option to choose your illustration as a request form. It works on pre-order, so my shop is supporting sustainable production concepts, and I will not end up with artworks I do not need.
About page – after spending a week writing the “about” paragraph, I gave up and asked a close friend of mine that is a marketing specialist and occasionally, a writer, for help. I spent a significant amount of time designing my CV – I wanted to create a minimalistic easy-to-read resume that presents the projects I have worked on without unnecessary details. After making sure that my OCD fixed every millimeter difference between the paragraphs, I uploaded it to my site. I might create a new colorful and eye-catching CV soon, but I am happy with the final result for now.