Dan Hall is a 17 year old photographer, his photographs are taken in a very similar portrait style to mine and he is an up and coming photographer which is why i consider him a competitor. I think his audience is teenagers and young adults or creatives. Instagram is the only platform he uses and he also has his own website. He posts frequently on his instagram and stories and will post content every few days. Dan engages with comments on his posts by liking comments and occassionaly replying. He also tags the models who feature in his posts and often shares more personal images or views on his story. 

Social media to consider: 

– Facebook

-Twitter

-Linked in

-Google + 

-Youtube

-Pinterest

-instagram

-Snapchat

-Tumblr

On my about page i wanted to use a quote which i feel sums up the motivation and thought process behind my work. I also added an image of myself for people who may want to know what i am like and to add a more friendly, personal touch to my website. I think adding an element of your personality can make people want to work with you and be more inclined to reach out or contact. I then added a small paragraph with some information about myself and experience and my email for people to contact me.  

On the next page i made my logo smaller and place it in the top left, this is so people can remember my name throughout viewing my website. I then used a grid layout with 5 collumns and rows to seperate each shoot from one another. To view each shoot you can click on the images and they shown bigger in a slide show layout with arrows to navigate. I like how the layout on this page allowed me to organise my shoots and entice peole by showing the best images from each shoot which will hopefully make them want  to see and know more. In the top centre of the page i put a menu symbol button which allows people to go back to the Enter page, Home page or About. I wanted to keep my website minimal and simple, therefore i have only include Work, About and an link button to my professional instagam. 

For my final website i deigned the home page in a much more mininalistic way. I kept my name in a large font at the top centre of the page so it stood out and was the first thing people would read when entering my page. I then put one of my favourite portrait images in the centre of the page using an automatic slide show effect. I like how this effect allowed people to get a taste of my images before entering and they did not have to click or do anything to view them. I then added a ‘Enter’ button at the bottom of my page, i like how the button makes my website easy to navigate and it is an exciting, but welcoming feature. To add some colour to my page i added a red effect to the enter button so when views hoover over it changes colour. 

    

For my first attempt at designing my own website i decided to use Wix as it provides a variety of free templates and is easy to use. I began designing by experimenting with where I wanted my logo to be positioned. I decided i wanted it to be placed in the centre, at the top of the page so it was the first thing people noticed when viewing my page and the images of my work could follow below. 

I then bgean looking a different layouts for the images on my home page. I chose a layout that allowed the images to be placed in 2 collumns with an arrow to navigate down the page. When hovering over an image it also comes up with the title of the shoot. You can click on one of the images and it will take you the a page where the rest of the images from the shoot are scattered around the page. in different sizes. The different pages were postioned on the top right in a light grey font and included ‘Work, Welcome, Portfolio, Info and Print’s. When clicking on the portfolio page i changed the layout to a slide show of images from diffrerent shoots.

I liked the home page because it included  different catergories and the layout allowed me to seperate each shoot and title them down the page, however i do not think the home page looks as minimal as i would like and noticed how some catergories were being covered by my name. I like how when clicking on a shoot all the images come up in a grid like format with small spaces between them however felt this look very busy and didnt do some of the photographs justice as some were smaller than others which removed some of there detail. The slide show on my portfolio meant the images appeared small with the more shoots i added which made me not want to use this feature for my final website. 

  

-Fast loading, works perfectly on tablets and phones. 

– Multi media. Film, social networking, shop

-Elegant, stylish and established

-Visually impactful and attention grabbing

-Very easy to navigate

-Not over ambitious

-Your voice

-Ecclesial part of your branding

-Really showcases your talent and skill set

 

Nicole Ngai’s website was another one i was drawn too because the layout and some elements were different to other websites i have visited. On the home page there is a slide show layout where you can flick through some of the photographers work whilst remaing on the homepage. Nicole’s logo was also in a bright red font as the top of the page against a black background which is what i noticed first. I feel like the red on black makes the name of the photographer very memorbale and stands out. The black background futhermore makes the images spotlighted and detailed. The different sections to explore on Nicoles page are placed on the top right and are titled ‘Editorials, Personal, Shop, About’, I like how delicate they are in contrast to the logo but how they are still easy to see in a white font against the black and all the colours compliment eachother.

Once clicking the ‘Editoral’’ tab to view some more of the photographer work the layout does not change and the slide show way of viewing the work continues with arrows to nativage. 

On Nicole’s about page there is an image of her and some text, however it is very minimal and short. You are provided with important infomation only such as where she is based,contact details and social handles. I almost like how the photographer hasnt given away any personal infomation about herself or motivations behind her work. This leaves me wanting to know more about her, However i feel i would prefer to have some more text to read and to gage more about her personality as i feel it is a suitable platform to do so.