FILMON VISUAL
From Vision to Reality: Crafting a Virtual Portfolio and Marketplace for an LA-Based Photographer
Filmon Seyoum, a portrait and street photographer, needed a portfolio website to showcase his work and connect with potential clients.
Role: Product Designer & No-Code Developer
Tools Used: Figma, Squarespace, Jira, Wix
Filmon Seyoum, a talented digital and film photographer specializing in street and portrait photography in Los Angeles, approached me to create a portfolio website that would elevate his personal brand and expand his business. With years of experience capturing the essence of LA through his lens, Filmon wanted a site that showcased his artistry while opening new opportunities for growth.
TARGET AUDIENCE:
Art Collectors, photography enthusiasts, and clients seeking distinctive photographic prints and services.
PROJECT CONSTRAINTS:
+ Showcasing Versatility
Filmon’s photography spans multiple styles, which required a flexible layout which could highlight different categories while maintaining visual consistency.
+ Website Builder Constraints
Working within a pre-built platform like Squarespace comes with restrictions on interaction design. As per the client's request, I kept the design very minimalistic with a major focus on his work.
Competitive Analysis: Though the design my client was looking for was on the more minimal side, I wanted to ensure that I checked all of the boxes navigation-wise. I took a deep dive into the realm of photography portfolios that were available online to get a sense of what was generally expected.
Here is a link crediting all of the sites I used for research:
Design Inspiration: In biweekly meetings, my client and I decided that the format in Joël Liechti's portfolio site fit closest to what we were looking for.
Wireframes & Sketches: The initial iterations were more complex. I had carefully picked out some recurring colors in Seyoum's images. Though these eventually did not need to be used, It helped shape the design process, especially in choosing a type face and font.
Final Designs: The style we ended up going with was simple, bold, and fitting to Seyoum's photography. Headers are striking with a bold sans serif type face, contrasting with a thin sans serif lowercase type face for paragraphs and links. The all black background was chosen to accompany the artworks' darker tones.
Takeaways: This project was incredible to work on. Not only getting to work alongside an incredible artist , but also to help build his idea into reality. We had biweekly meetings to discuss our goals for the project, expectations, always accompanied by warm tea or coffee at our local café. I had never set up a shop feature before so that was a new experience for me. Though it was not complicated, it definitely made me realize exactly what and how much information I needed to do so.
Next Steps: I handed off the project to Seyoum, though we still check in here and there to ensure there are no bugs or just to help implement new products within the shop.