Curious Creatures, Clean Website

Artist Lynnette Shelley showcases her beautiful and intriguing artwork on a clean, easy-to-navigate website - lynnetteshelley.com. The drop-down menus make it easy to find sections of the artist's portfolio, information on shows and exhibitions, purchase info, and a blog.

The artist's background and additional information is nicely summarized on the home page, below a dramatic, page-spanning sample of Lynette's work.

The Gallery section is divided into four parts, each arranged a bit differently. Normally we like to see consistent organization, but the slight differences add some visual interest, and don't get in the way of ease-of-use.

Links to social network pages, both from the main website and the blog, show that Lynnette is well-connected with a large community of artists and fans.

This Week It's Back to Black...

... with the website of Eric Armusik - ericarmusik.com. Some of the sites we've featured in the past used a black (or dark gray) background to highlight the artwork. In the case of Armusik's site, the dark background seems to be chosen for dramatic effect.

From the striking photo of the artist, to the video on the front page, to the announcement of a featured event (at the time of this posting, an upcoming Marathon Portrait Weekend), the site is strongly focused on promotion. There are also prominent links to the artist's pages on FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter, and WordPress.

Like other sites we've discussed, this site features clear and consistent navigational menus. Major headings lead to galleries of the artist's work (modern representational art), information about the artist, and opportunities to buy and commission paintings or sign up for workshops.

Rather than creating a passive "portfolio" site, Eric Armusik clearly understands how to use the web as an effective marketing and promotional tool.

Simple and Fun

Daniel Maher Stained Glass - dmstainedglass.com - is a very 'simple' website; it looks like it could easily have been built by hand-coding html.

At the same time, the creative use of color and type makes the site fun and engaging, and the consistent navigation menu makes it easy for visitors to find their way around the site.

Maher's site demonstrates that you don't need a big budget to create an effective website.

Art Sites Don't Have to be Black or Gray!

I noticed that in the first few weeks of this blog, the sites selected to showcase had plain dark backgrounds...  so this week we're going to look at a colorful site, where the background image, icons, and even type faces reflect the artist's theme.

Bill Owen calls himself The Cowboy Artist, and his work - sculptures, lithographs and prints - features scenes of the West.  His website, billowenca.com, uses one of Bill's paintings as a backdrop, and features several images of his work on the home page.

Like other artist sites we've featured, Bill's extensive site features consistent navigation, making it easy for visitors to see and purchase his work, and to learn more about his background. The Events page is up-to-date and lists current and upcoming shows.

The site also features a small but fun touch - several of Bill's working "brands" are displayed, with notes on each.

This is a great example of a site that is creative, looks good, complements the artists work, and does not sacrifice usability!