I’ve been doing what every illustrator does at the start of a new year: asking myself if there’s a better way to display my portfolio so art directors will actually look at it,
be astounded, and hasten to hire me for large sums of money… : )
I have a portfolio right here on my blog, of course. People can click on the thumbnails in the sidebar and view the full-size illustrations. And since the sidebar is always present, they can click on one thumbnail after another.
Art directors, however, are pressed for time. Illustrators are always pestering them to look at their work. So it’s to an illustrator’s advantage to speed this up and make life easier for the art director.
Obvious answer: display one’s portfolio as a clickable slideshow. “Clickable” as opposed to automatic, so the art director can click through at their own pace, stopping at any time for a longer look at a given image.
One can do this on Facebook– for free. First, set up a page for your business. Here’s a screen shot of what mine looks like. I’ve highlighted the title, Like button, short description of the business, and the Photos button. My illustration portfolio is one of several “albums” within the Photos section.
Once you have a Facebook page, you can promote it on your WordPress blog by using a Facebook Like Box widget. Blog visitors can like your Facebook page by simply clicking the Like button in the sidebar.
Here’s a screen shot of how my Like Box widget displays in my sidebar. The gravatars are displayed randomly each time. Clearly they represent people with a deep appreciation of great art… : )
Facebook does a great job with images, both photos and illustrations. You can upload full-size, high-resolution JPEGs (I use 300 dpi), and they display beautifully.
My personal opinion: 20 images is about right for a portfolio. It respects an art director’s time, and forces you to pick only your best work.
When you access a particular album on Facebook, it initially displays as a block of large thumbnail images. Click on any thumbnail, and the display converts to slideshow format.
Here’s a screenshot of my Portfolio album, displayed as thumbnail images. You choose your own title and description for each Facebook album.
Once you click on a thumbnail, Facebook shifts to a slideshow display. Click on the right-center of the image (red arrow below), and you advance to the next image.
The image display is very large– almost full-screen. If you entered a description when you uploaded the image, that description will display at the top of the slideshow sidebar. Also displayed: some of those annoying Facebook ads. Ah, well– there’s no free lunch.
Here’s a close-up showing the image description more legibly.
I’ll be exploring some other portfolio options, but I’m very pleased with my Facebook portfolio slideshow. You can access it here, and I’d appreciate any feedback re ease of
use and the illustrations themselves. Just click any thumbnail to launch the slideshow.
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What do you think? Are you a Facebook user? Do you use a Facebook page to promote your business? Are you an artist or photographer? Would you care to share thoughts or experiences concerning your portfolio? Hope you’ll leave a comment.