It has come to my attention lately that my website lacks.... professionalism? Polish? Continuity? Ease of use? Oh let's face it, it looks like a great big mess put together by a hobbyist. Because it is. I first built the site a number of years ago and kept the same look, so it has that dated feel. The way it was laid out was adequate for showing a bit of work, but I kept the same format and just kept piling more work into it. It has grown so much that the beast has become unwieldy indeed. By every right and appearance it looks like an ameteur did it - that just won't do, not for a professional art site. Time to roll up my sleeves, bite the bullet...
I have factors working against me. I am technologically-inept. The site content is HUGE. It was put together with a WYSIWIG program. My time is limited. I can't afford/don't want to pay for a professional web designer.
So I've been looking at a LOT of art sites and their layouts. I'll take an appealing page into MS Word, and rework it. Change the colors, the table/cell sizes, create the necessary graphics I'll need for my own, add elements I've seen on other pages that I like and want to incorporate into my own format. I've got a start on a design I kinda like. It needs further tweaking, such as reducing the nav bar/title-logo occupation as they take up too much room on top. It's a drastic change from what my site has been for the past.... 6 or 7 years? Hey, I'm overdue! This change won't be immediate, it's going to take a LOT of time and work. I won't drop older works, they will be archived and available on the site.
T'ain't easy, but I'm learning a lot as I go.
If anyone would like to chime in with an opinion or a critique, such information would be heartily welcomed.
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