Why You Should Choose A Digital Portfolio To Showcase Your Work
From gallery walls to the web, it is important to adapt to the contemporary avenues of marketing to make sure your work gets seen.
In today's digital age, the traditional physical portfolio is becoming less relevant. While a physical portfolio can be valuable for in-person meetings, the rise of the internet has reduced the need for such encounters.
Social media is great for sharing your work and creating opportunities, but it's designed for engagement. To present your work in the most authentic and distraction-free way, a digital portfolio might be the best choice.
Choosing The Right Platform
There are numerous online platforms available for curating your digital portfolio, and choosing the one that best showcases your work is crucial. In this post, we'll explore five potential options: Notion, Squarespace, Wix, Adobe Portfolio, and Behance
Notion
Features:
Customizable Templates: Notion offers a variety of templates specifically designed for artists, including project trackers, to-do lists, and portfolio layout
Database Management: Artists can create databases to organize their work, track progress, and manage commissions
Collaboration Tools: Notion allows for easy collaboration with clients or team members, making it simple to share and edit projects in real-time
Benefits:
Organization: Helps artists keep their projects and tasks organized in one place.
Flexibility: Highly customizable to fit the specific needs of each artist.
Collaboration: Facilitates seamless collaboration and communication with others.
Notion is my personal choice. With a gallery full of free templates to begin building your portfolio, it is a game-changer for organizing your work in a seamless way. Notion also allows you to publish pages using a 'phantom link' on the web, making it unsearchable but accessible to anyone you share the link with – this is optimal for cold-emailing and virtual consultations.
Squarespace
Features:
Professional Templates: Squarespace provides stunning, professionally designed templates that are easy to customize
E-commerce Integration: Artists can sell their work directly from their website with built-in e-commerce tools.
SEO Tools: Built-in SEO features help artists improve their website's visibility on search engines
Benefits:
Aesthetic Appeal: Beautiful templates that make artwork stand out.
Sales: Easy to set up an online store to sell art.
Visibility: Enhanced SEO tools to attract more visitors.
What is an SEO?
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the practice of optimizing your website and content to improve its visibility on search engines like Google. By using relevant keywords, creating high-quality content, and ensuring your site is user-friendly, you can increase the chances of your blog appearing higher in search results. This helps attract more visitors and potential readers to your site
Wix
Features:
Wide Range of Templates: Wix offers over 900 templates, including many designed for artists
Drag-and-Drop Editor: User-friendly editor that allows for easy customization without any coding knowledge
Wix Art Store: A dedicated feature for artists to sell their work online
Benefits:
Ease of Use: Simple to create and customize a professional-looking website.
Sales: Integrated tools to sell artwork directly from the site.
Customization: Extensive customization options to reflect the artist's unique style.
Adobe Portfolio
Features:
Creative Cloud Integration: Seamlessly integrates with Adobe Creative Cloud, allowing artists to easily import their work
Customizable Layouts: Offers a variety of customizable layouts to showcase artwork
Responsive Design: Ensures that portfolios look great on any device
Benefits:
Integration: Easy to use for artists already familiar with Adobe products.
Professional Look: High-quality, customizable layouts for a polished presentation.
Accessibility: Responsive design ensures a great viewing experience on all devices.
Behance
Features:
Portfolio Showcase: Allows artists to create and share their portfolios with a global audience
Networking: Connect with other creatives and potential clients
Job Opportunities: Access to job listings and freelance opportunities within the creative community
Benefits:
Exposure: Showcase work to a large, global audience.
Networking: Build connections with other artists and industry professionals.
Opportunities: Find job and freelance opportunities directly through the platform.
What Makes a Strong Digital Portfolio
A strong digital portfolio should function like a physical portfolio – just online. To best market your work, you'll always want to put your best foot forward.
If your goal is to sell pieces or gain commissions, include high quality images of your best pieces under proper lighting and resolution to portray them as true to form as possible. Maybe your work is closer related to contracting: chose photos of your finished jobs.
Like a traditional portfolio or resume, add a bio about yourself as a professional as well as a CV that showcases exhibitions, commissions, and collaborations (as applicable).
When marketing in a creative field, it is important to thoroughly explain your process. Include an Artist statement that explains your vision and themes – this can apply per piece or overall depending on the nature of your work.
Finally, dedicate a section to your contact information and links to your social media and/or an online store.
Where to Market Your Portfolio
The link to your digital portfolio is your greatest asset.
Finally, for a portfolio to be beneficial it has to be seen.
Link it everywhere; add it to your Instagram bio, your email signature, and business cards. If someone becomes interested in the work you have done, the goal is to make their road to you as seamless and easy as possible. The usage of digital portfolios is great way to establish a professional network as well; you can collaborate with other professionals in similar fields and share each other's portfolios.
How art|Works Can Help
You can find us at The Longview Gallery every Friday for "Work from the Office Fridays" or stop by any Wednesday during Office Hours with our IT team. We're always ready to help troubleshoot and answer any questions you may have.
We provide marketing services designed to help artists and entrepreneurs build a solid brand presence, both online and offline.
From social media strategies to content creation and audience engagement, our goal is to ensure your work is seen by the right people in an honest and true-to-you way. If your vision is to be seen by as many potential customers as possible, we are equipped to help that become a reality.