Creating a Wireframe

Questions first

Before I could start to lay out the website design, I had to ask a few questions to the client (me). For a couple of years I have been using a modified WordPress theme for my portfolio, but now that I’m studying graphic design I can see that it’s lacking.

I want to use the opportunity to redesign the site into a more visually appealing portfolio site.

• What kind of visitors are you expecting on your website?

I want publishers, artists and art directors to see my page.

• Who are your competitors and how do you differ from them?

My competitors are mostly Norwegian artists, of which there are many amazing ones. A lot of them work in Illustrator or make abstract representations of their subjects. I try to illustrate in a more traditional way, even the comic-style work.

• What actions do you want visitors to take on the site?

First of all I want them to remember me, but most of all I want them to contact me for commissions.

• What is your deadline for completing the site? How big is the budget?

I have no real deadline, but let’s say a month. I’m a “starving artist”, so a very low budget

• What features should be used on your website? (This includes things like contact forms, pictures, videos, etc.)

I need a way to display my illustrations in an appealing way, and I also need a fool-proof contact form. If there’s any way to animate my illustrations, we could look at that, but that would probably go over the budget.

• Please list the names of three sites that you like and explain what you like about them.

https://ikerpaz.carbonmade.com/ – clean webpage, and the portfolio is right there

https://nguyenat.carbonmade.com/ – shows the project name on the images

https://iamjoliephotography.carbonmade.com/ – combines both of the above

• Do you have any colour preferences? What should the look and feel for the website be?

It should be greyscale, so it won’t take attention away from the artwork.

• Who will be the contact person for this project?

Me.

• What do you NOT want on your site in terms of text, content, colour and graphic elements?

I don’t want more than one colour other than black & white, if that souits the design. I don’t want to navigate too much to get to the artwork, because it should be the first thing you see.

I don’t want text to clutter the portfolio.

• Who will be responsible for maintaining the website? Will the person have the time and skills to do so?

That would be me, and I am learning how to do so now.

Creating the wireframe

So, with all the info I gathered from the brief questions I started to sketch the website structure. I chose to start by using a low-tech wireframe, because it’s faster, cheaper and it’s easy to play around and modify things. I wouldn’t start with the high-tech route unless I know exactly how I want the page to look like.

I wanted to make the portfolio simple to navigate, uncluttered and pleasing to look at. I also needed to explore the mobile version of this site, and tried to keep the design similar to that of the full site.