Going Live!

http://www.jenniemeadows.com is now live…

Wow, what a stressful & eye-opening three weeks that was. A major learning experience, too.

I already had an idea of what to expect after my OCNLR Level 2 Certificate Web Technologies course at Richmond Adult Community College last year, but doing it for real is another matter.

The first aspect is deciding how you want your site to look & what you want to communicate. The best way to do that is put pen to paper & draw a basic layout. From there you can start creating a strong structure.

At this stage, I knew I wanted a clean, basic site with minimal pages. So I wanted to have the following pages: Home; Gallery; About & Contact. Later on I’ll be adding a Commissions page & a Blog as things develop. Small steps at this stage.

The second aspect in this process was getting my head round how Squarespace functions. I created a basic set up after lots of reading their helpful notes with massive amounts of trial & error. Washed down with countless cups of coffee & tea.

Thirdly was creating the content. Ok, what textual messages do I want to communicate? The main chunk of writing was for my About page. Ok, I’ve decided to label myself as an ‘artist’. What should I write? So, I had a look around other artists’ sites & followed their ‘template’ of how they describe themselves. Also, I found Saatchi Art a great source of advice in how to market oneself in this particular arena.

The other content aspect (& most important) is the images. From an aesthetic point of view, from what I’ve read (in class and online) is only show your best. No fillers. The way I chose my core images was to print then start grouping them according to style, taking out the weaker ones and those which didn’t quite fit.

On the technical side, file sizing and image quality are important. Not too big, otherwise it will slow down the download speeds. Which means people get bored quickly then move on. Also, you want to avoid sneaky individuals nicking your work & using it without credit. A small file will look great on screen, but useless for print. So I had to save the chosen images as 1500 pixels x 1000 pixels at medium quality & 300dpi.

One advantage of Squarespace is that their system automatically creates different sized versions of each image. This is to ensure a uniform look across all viewing media (PC, tablet & smart phone). Saves a lot of editing time & storage space.

Another tip is to batch edit in Camera Raw then set the metadata with your contact details. At least it gives those more honest folk the opportunity to contact you before pilfering. There’s also a small modicum of leverage if someone takes it outright without your permission & you manage to track them down.

Additionally, naming the files is also crucial: lower case, no spaces. Other characters (like question marks, percent signs, and ampersands) may hinder uploading & play havoc with your galleries.

Interestingly, once I’d followed these stages it was easier than I thought to get the site to where it is now. I know there’s a lot more work to be done (especially on the back end with regards to SEO), but there’s a solid foundation for growth. Looking forward to this particular journey…