Website Updates & Evaluation

 In this post I will add my final website updates that I have been working on.  I will begin with my homepage - this remains unchanged and I think I will be keeping this as it is for now.

My contact and About page I already added the updates to previous posts.  I want to concentrate here on the portfolio section as these are the updates where I have added previous work and my finalised project for this term. 

As can be seen, I now have three sections film/Performance, Writing & Photography.  I have added additional pages to all of these and added button links by clicking on the 'add' button and choosing button and then customising each button design using Palantino Linotype as this was the font of my website.  I then added links to each page that I added. 

My final project 'Uncertain Times' I adjusted the introduction as my completed film had evolved from the original idea and then I uploaded my film to YouTube so that it can be easily inserted here. 

I also added a 'Back to Portfolio' Button at the top to ensure easy navigation back and forth through the site.  I then added my new page which included two previous films - as you can see I also added a Back to Portfolio button here too and introductions to each film.

On the Writing I added Writing Links these are links to content writing online about Photography - this page still needs a back button added 

The final page was a photography book project which I completed previously - I wanted to add this as it was a good example of a Digital Flipbook - however, I also have this in hard copy and it is available on Blurb which I need to add here. 

 I also checked my mobile view and as I expected I have to rearrange the front portfolio page so i did this so now it should scroll and everything is in the correct position 

I also changed the page with my book on as this did not work well, I still think this may need further work 

I will now add the questions that we will all be considering in class today so that we can evaluate our own site

Website Evaluation 

Planning stage:

What were your initial ideas for creating a website? style / name / template

I wanted to create a website that represented my photography and performance/film work.  Therefore I wanted to ensure that I included on my homepage my own work and I envisioned the site being mostly in black and white so I picked a photography template that I thought I could work with.  I was using my own name and I wanted it to be really clear what the site was for so that I would attract the right visitors

Do you have a tagline on your website? 

No I am not marketing anything as such so have not included this.

Research:

Which designers / artists (relevant to your continuation route) websites did you look for inspiration? 

I looked at the websites of Katy Grannan and Corrine Day, I looked at these websites as they are both women photographers whom I admire and both create images that have a style that is similar in some ways to my own so seeing these sites assisted me in considering how to set up the pages and navigation of my own sites and assisted me in understanding what works for the end user. 

How many pages did you want to make on your website and why? 

I created four main pages that are on the navigation bar these were Home, About, Contact and the Front Portfolio page.  I then created four more pages that were part of my portfolio and linked to the front portfolio page.  This keeps the navigation bar simple and clean and then users can access additional pages through the front portfolio page and the drop down sub menu under portfolio. 

 Did that change as you progressed onto the research / designing stage?

The additional portfolio pages were added after research and looking at other websites as stated above. I wanted to show a range of presentation techniques.  I will add a photo gallery once I have created a new collection for this in later stages this year. 

Content:

What is the purpose of your website?

My website is mainly so that end users can enjoy my work and view the content at leisure.  However I can also use this website to sell work and I will be adding a link to Blurb as I already have this book for sale on this site.  So, at present if I am selling I am directing users to other sites where my work is for sale. 

Who are your potential website users?

My potential users are probably more likely to be Generation X, probably more women than men as I have a tendency to create feminist photography/film piece, I am hoping though that some of the film piece might also attract the older male viewer.  people who view this site are hopefully interested in photography and digital film as performance work.  

Why do you think it is important to have a digital portfolio website?

It is very important in this day and age to have a website as this is how most end users look at artwork, design, images, news events etc.  It is incredibly important that the site works exceptionally well on the mobile phone and all work is easy to navigate and is accessible.  Also your digital portfolio is part of your resume/CV, social media liked Linkedin (for jobs/professionals) and if I was going to apply to anything at an academic institution I would need a website portfolio. 

Design:

Which design elements / tools did you use? (e.g.: infographics, fixed header, static background image, navigation menu design, text boxes, image galleries, social media feed) and why? 

On my website I used in Wix a fixed header and footer.  I did this so that the header and footer would appear consistently on each page.  On my homepage I have used a static background with an image that fills the page.  I could change this to a slider later but to begin with I will keep the homepage simple.  The navigation menu I changed to the same font Palantino Linotype as my header.  In the footer I added social media icons - these were Linkedin, Twitter/X, Blogger and YouTube.  I also added the copyright ensuring I used the correct copyright symbol that also appears on each page.  I then added using the add button , button and links to move between pages, blank pages that I then could add galleries.  I also added an embedded site so that end users could use a flipbook.  I added a contact form that links to my email so that users can easily contact me and additional static image to design the site. 

Navigation:

Does your website have working social media icon links?

Yes as stated above

Are your pages connected / interlinked?

Yes as stated above I used buttons and subpages to ensure that there are many ways to move around my site.  I ensured I had back buttons so you are never stuck on a page. 

Is it easy to navigate?

Yes it is very easy to navigate but I will also UX test this in week nine to get user response. 

Does the “Contact” page / email link work?

Yes I have tested this and this works well