Website Research: Francesca Woodman & Carolee Schneemann

 As we are creating our own website, I will study two websites and compare and contrast these.  This website research will assist me in understanding how to create my own website so I will consider the overall design, colours, and typography, navigation, usability/user-friendliness, links and mobile view.

I will be looking at Francesca Woodman and Carolee Schneemann  as these are two artists I will be looking at in more depth as part of my further research so it will be interesting how their work is presented.  Both of these artists have passed away and so their websites are managed by a foundation so they are good to compare as we consider the photographic legacy of these artists.

I will begin by looking at Carolee Schneemann's website.  Below you can view the homepage 

I find the homepage quite busy there does not seem to be a menu however there are buttons you can click into to view the various pages on her site.  The layout and design are in a mosaic form and so parts of the artist's works cover the page.  The buttons that link to the pages cover the homepage.  The typography is a sans serif font and is white for the title of the artist and so this is clear over a busy background the font is rounded and very easy to read.  The buttons are white with black titles which again works well over a coloured background that changes with videos and artworks changing underneath. 

I then clicked into artworks to view the artists work please see this page and layout here;

As can be seen here the page has a black background and a menu on the left-hand side which uses white buttons consistent with the homepage for the menu to the artist's work, life, bibliography and newsletter and misson.  It is easy to click into the works which appear large when clicked into with a title, date, and introduction to the work which is well-written and informative. 

There is not an About page as such on this site but there is a mission for the legacy of Schneemann and her work and a chronology of her work throughout her lifetime.  This is useful and the viewer can get a clear understanding of the artist and her work. 

The last page I will look at here is the contact page, this page is clear and simple in design with a consistent sans serif font using black text on a white background.  This page does include email contact links and social media links however these could have been added as icons for increased and easy usability as many people would not necessarily click into this page and then copy and click these links.  The copyright is included on this page and has copyright details for the Schneemann foundation.

Lastly, I checked the mobile view of Schneemann's website on my mobile phone.  I believe this website works better and is laid out better for mobile as it has a menu button on the homepage with clear links to every page, The artworks are easy to click into and are clearly defined as you scroll through the work however there are still no social links appearing as icons and this really is missing a trick here as this would establish a clearer presence online of the artist.

I will now consider the website of Francesca Woodman - this actually is the Woodman Foundation and her work appear here as part of her family foundation site. 

The homepage of this site has a triptych of images that show three members of the family and when your hover over these images a navigation box appears to lead you directly to their works.  There is also a navigation menu in black sans serif text against the white background of the homepage that is on the left-hand side of the screen.  The title 'Our Mission is in light grey and this works well as a title for the information, which sits underneath the images so it is clear what the website is about. The user then clicks on the 'More about us button to read the whole mission.  The homepage works well, is clear, and is very easy to use.  The Woodman website has a logo that appears in the left-hand corner throughout and scrolling on the homepage leads you to the latest news and works by the Woodman family.  These are laid out in clear square image boxes that the user can click on and immediately read more information.  In the footer of all the pages is the copyright notice. 

I click next to Francesca Woodman's works.  This is easy to use and each image has a title and a year and the works expand upon clicking into them.  There are back and next buttons so it is easy to click through the works and explore this work fully.  The page gain is white with a light grey title for the name of the artists and the black menu and logo remain keeping the pages consistent and easy to use. 

I then check the biography page of Francesca Woodman as this will be most useful when considering my own about me page for my own site. The biography is clear and informative, easy to read and there is a fairly detailed overview of Francesca Woodmans' short life and her legacy.  There is a printable bio and a CV that lists her works and exhibitions.  This works really well for a biography page and there are a few images that give the page life and context.  

The contact page works well and is consistent with all other pages, the image is not overly inspiring but it does work and it is easy to use. There is one social media link to Instagram and after searching around the site I did think more social media links would be available as this would mean that their work was advertised and promoted on a wider scale globally.

The mobile view on the Woodman site is good and looks very similar to the website itself and remains consistent, again easy to use with no issues.

Comparing both sites The Schneemann site seems more mobile friendly and seems to work better on the mobile version, the website can seem a little busy on the homepage and you do end up clicking on the buttons not quite sure if it is what you want then going back to the homepage.  The Woodman site is very structured, consistent and organised and clearly denotes each woodman family member's work and life.  Social media on both sites needed massive improvement and this could be increased and promoted so that these artists really get their work out there.  For both artists, the information and work is there and on Woodman's it is easier to click and view but perhaps the site could be more exciting and perhaps there could be more of a feature made of some events.  Schneemann has an exhibition that I went to at the weekend in London, again this could have been promoted on the homepage and been more prominent.  Overall when making my own site looking at these makes me realise that I need something in-between the two, organised but exciting, features on the homepage of current news and events, and a selection of social media that really add and enhance content and connectivity to the audience.