To gain a better understanding of how the layout of my portfolio site could work, I have created two flow diagrams to understand possible ways each page can flow from one another, similar to the screen flow charts I did for units 5, 6 and 7.

The first one shows the home page displaying my bio, a highlight reel and it will branch off into different pages. I really like this diagram because the bio and my best bits of work are the first thing a university or potential clients see, this is what draws people in. They don’t have time or aren’t interested in searching through your account for information.

I like the idea of having a whole page for contact details but I am still debating if it needs a whole page for my email and some social media links. The different categories for my different types of art is something I really like.

I wanted to try out having an about section of work in different page, this could mean I  can add a bit more about myself on the page. However this may not be the best idea as people would have to look for this page to read about me so it might go unread, as well as this, I don’t think people are interested in reading loads about me. I do like the reused art sections, where different types of art can go.

In ArtStation you do have an about page but it isn’t just an about page, it can have your contact details here, work experience, software experience etc. So that to me balances out the issue of a separate about page.

For it’s own website I think I prefer the first one as the about section can’t be skipped. But in ArtStation the about section is in the main bar so it isn’t hidden!

Visual design:

After looking at ArtStation after signing up, it has a simple and sleek black, grey and white colour scheme so all of my work will look nice against it. I discovered the top part of your page can actually be changed, I might change this later on but I do like the consistent black, grey and white colour scheme. Different albums can be made in your profile to make it neat and organised.

To plan out my portfolio I made several albums for work, I made:

• Environment Work
• Character Design and Art
• Sketchbook Work
• Life Drawing
• Still Life

The only one that displays now is “Environment Work”, this is because the only piece of work I have uploaded currently is in “Environment Work”. When I upload to the other folders they will show up. I really like having separate folders for my work, I took it from my flow diagram as I like to keep my space organised and neat, whether that be through pages or folders.

I did think of just having the “All” folder but I didn’t feel this would look professional in a portfolio and it would be confusing and unorganised for anyone looking at my portfolio. I have however kept the “All” folder there incase people prefer to look through everything rather than clicking in and out of each folder. I just think for Universities viewing my portfolio, it would be easier to have separate folders.

Background wise, I know I want to use either my own work or a free to use wallpaper.  The wallpaper normally fits to size and it would blur my work, so I thought about free to use backgrounds. I tried out plain colours like blues and pinks, the issue that came was that it adds a dark gradient to your background, I personally don’t like how this looks. As well as this I tried patterned free to use wallpaper and it stretched to size and blurred, so I can’t use a patterned background either. As well as this I would prefer to use my own work rather than free to use work since this is a portfolio site.

I had a look at other artists accounts and they also have a gradient. Artists who use their own work make the gradient work, I’m going to wait a bit until I make a landscape piece of work that I really like to use there. For now I’m using the default ArtStation background until I can use a suitable piece of my work.

There isn’t anything I can do with the font on ArtStation so it will have to stay the same here.

So far I have decided on folder layouts profile picture, about section and that I want my background to be my own work. Creating the outline of my portfolio to use and improve in the future has got me ahead so really I can just focus on my actual work now! I can also use my future background in my portfolio as well! I am very happy I chose art station as the actual look of the website won’t distract me from doing portfolio work.