In today’s digital age, businesses need websites to stand out and be seen by the world. The same is true for artists and designers. A freelance illustrator website is a must if you’re looking to showcase your work. Here are a few helpful tips on how to do it and where to showcase your talent.
Why You Need a Freelance Illustrator Website
A freelance illustrator website can help you in many ways. This includes the following:
Showcase your work: with a dedicated website for your portfolio, you can show prospective employers your best works, art style, and skills.
Build credibility: a well-designed can help you build credibility and project an image of pure professionalism.
Find work easily: a portfolio website will help make it easy for employers to see what you can bring to their tables.
Boost your online presence: when you use your social media and other channels to distribute your website, you’ll have more exposure and boost your presence online, allowing more people to see your work.
Establish yourself as a brand: a freelance illustrator website will help establish your brand as an artist.
Reflect your personality and creativity: a well-composed website will show people who you are, what you can do, and how creative you are.
How to Design Your Freelance Illustrator Website
To get you started designing your freelance illustrator website, follow the steps below:
Build Your Brand: if you haven’t done it yet, now’s the best time to define your brand. This means deciding on your color scheme, creating a logo, identifying your fonts, and finalizing all your aesthetics. This way, maintaining consistency across all your marketing materials will be easy.
Choose Your Platform: there are plenty of platforms you can use to build your freelancer website. We’ve listed a few good ones below. Each one has its own pros and cons, so you need to do a bit of research to find out which would suit your requirements best.
Create Your Portfolio: this will be the heart of your website. Make sure to include your best works to give potential clients a sense of your style and other capabilities.
Create an About Me Page: this is the best place to tell the world your story. Include your experiences, expertise, education, and everything you want people to know about you. Make it compelling and detailed to show clients a great sense of who you are as an artist.
Make It User-Friendly: make it easy for potential clients to browse through your website and find what they need from you. Create a contact form that shows your email address, phone numbers, social media accounts, and other details. If you can, optimize the website for faster loading.
Create Your Portfolio
Once you have chosen a platform for your freelance illustration website, you need to do the following to create your portfolio:
Choose a clean theme: choose a theme that’s easy on the eyes, avoid adding clutter that can distract your viewers, and again, make sure that it’s easy to navigate through.
Create a section for your portfolio: don’t just place your work in one place. It’s best to compartmentalize it for easy viewing. You can create categories by projects, making it easy for clients to find if you are a great fit for their needs. This will also show your range and expertise.
Highlight your best work: they say quality trumps quantity every time. This is true, so make sure to highlight your best work. You can put them on the top page where the viewers will see them first.
Use high-resolution images: ensure you use high-quality images to add professionalism to your website. Crisp and clear images are the key to making your work appear more compelling and exciting.
Add a description for each illustration: let your viewers know what they are looking at by providing a description for each project or illustration. You can add the tools you used for each, how it solved the problem of your client, and many other details.
Optimize for mobile devices: mobile phone use is the norm these days, and potential clients may be looking at your freelance illustrator website through their smartphones. Make sure they see your work by optimizing your site for mobile devices.
Include feedback, reviews, and testimonials: if you have received testimonials from your previous work, include them on your website. Any feedback or review you get is an opportunity to show your dedication to your field. Even negative feedback can be good as you can address it, show how you have turned it around, and become a positive experience.
Test and review: before publishing your website, check for errors such as spelling and grammar. Ask friends or family to look at it to find areas you need to change or correct.
Update regularly: keep your illustrator website up to date. Once you complete a project, add it to show your growth and success as an artist.
Market Your Freelance Illustrator Website
The next step would be to market and distribute your freelance illustrator website. Go to your social media platforms where you can share your website. You can also use best practices in SEO (Search Engine Optimization) to have it rank higher and expose it to more people.
Top Platforms to Build Your Freelance Illustrator Website
As promised, below is a list of the top platforms you can use to build your freelance illustrator website:
- Squarespace
- WordPress
- Wix
- Behance
- Dribble
Each of these platforms offers varying features. You need to explore and check them out to know where you can take your portfolio and be seen by clients.
Final Thoughts
Designing your freelance illustrator website is easy if you know what you need to do. As an artist, this is a task that’s both meaningful and enjoyable as it can be an expression of your art. You can use this guide to get your work in front of the right people and get the projects you want.
For businesses looking to hire illustrators, Penji is here for you. Our team of designers and illustrators belongs to the top tier, assuring you of quality work. Watch our demo video here to learn more about us. Click on this link to get our illustrators working for you.
