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How NOT to display your artwork on the web

images.jpgListen up, because the post I’m linking to here should be required reading for all illustrators and artists who maintain a presence on the Internet. Over at Lines and Colors, Charley Parker has written up a lengthy and entertaining manifesto against artists who make crappy websites:Never have I seen such an array of sites in which artsy designs, misplaced cleverness, highbrow concepts, amateur clumsiness, arrogance and ignorance have been painstakingly employed to drive visitors away. Charley covers everything from image hosting to poor user interface and site navigation, and even takes a jab at your mom in between.

Okay, I made that last part up, but I really just want to make sure you head on over to read the article: How NOT to Display Your Artwork on the Web

  • http://kerstinsklein.blogspot.com/ blackvampire

    Thanks for the cool link! I´m off to read.

  • http://kerstinsklein.blogspot.com blackvampire

    Thanks for the cool link! I´m off to read.

  • http://jedalexander.blogspot.com/ Jed Alexander

    I think I at one time made at least half of these mistakes, but I was reassured to find that my current website isn’t so bad. Yay.

  • http://jedalexander.blogspot.com Jed Alexander

    I think I at one time made at least half of these mistakes, but I was reassured to find that my current website isn’t so bad. Yay.

  • http://www.comingupforair.net/ Matt

    Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Damn – got some (re) design work to do.

  • http://www.comingupforair.net Matt

    Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Damn – got some (re) design work to do.

  • http://www.davecurd.com/ davecurd

    Blarg, I still use a flash site.
    I hate that it’s tricky to bookmark or copy/paste my work, but I don’t know how to rock the html! DAMMMMIT!
    Otherwise, I think I did okay with the rules. :0

  • http://www.davecurd.com davecurd

    Blarg, I still use a flash site.
    I hate that it’s tricky to bookmark or copy/paste my work, but I don’t know how to rock the html! DAMMMMIT!
    Otherwise, I think I did okay with the rules. :0

  • designer

    Halleluah and Amen. I design picture books for a living, and I can vouge for the fact that several times when I’m rushing to get together samples to show for a pitch, if I can’t get them easily I’ll just give up on people’s obnoxious websites.

    HATES: separate popped out windows for each piece; flash sites that take forever to load and from which you have to do screen grabs to get samples to show; white text on black backgrounds; sites that when I bookmark them, the artist’s name isn’t the site name.
    LOVES: big images that I don’t have to scale up until their mush just to show an editor; next-home-previous click through format; pages with a minimum of ten samples.

    LEASE PLEASE PLEASE listen to this guy’s tutorial for you site and I guarantee you’ll get twice as much work.

  • designer

    Halleluah and Amen. I design picture books for a living, and I can vouge for the fact that several times when I’m rushing to get together samples to show for a pitch, if I can’t get them easily I’ll just give up on people’s obnoxious websites.

    HATES: separate popped out windows for each piece; flash sites that take forever to load and from which you have to do screen grabs to get samples to show; white text on black backgrounds; sites that when I bookmark them, the artist’s name isn’t the site name.
    LOVES: big images that I don’t have to scale up until their mush just to show an editor; next-home-previous click through format; pages with a minimum of ten samples.

    LEASE PLEASE PLEASE listen to this guy’s tutorial for you site and I guarantee you’ll get twice as much work.

  • http://www.linesandcolors.com/ CharleyParker

    Thanks, for the mention, Johnny!

    Thanks in part to this post on Drawn!, and the speed with which the topic has spread across the web, this has become the most popular article I’ve ever posted, by an order of magnitude. It’s obvious that artists want to know how to build an effective web presence, but simply don’t find the information on how to go about it easily available. I’m attempting to gather some resources and write a follow up post with some positive suggestions.

  • http://www.linesandcolors.com CharleyParker

    Thanks, for the mention, Johnny!

    Thanks in part to this post on Drawn!, and the speed with which the topic has spread across the web, this has become the most popular article I’ve ever posted, by an order of magnitude. It’s obvious that artists want to know how to build an effective web presence, but simply don’t find the information on how to go about it easily available. I’m attempting to gather some resources and write a follow up post with some positive suggestions.