Silver Website and Web Design · 2016
Eyesbound Portfolio Website
by Julia Hell
- A' Design Award 2016 Silver Winner in Website and Web Design
- Awarded April 15, 2016
- CLIENT: Eyesbound
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 29,526
- Verification code E6A7C76066 · Verify this award
About Eyesbound Portfolio Website
Eyesbound is a portfolio website designed for a photographer. Full screen images form the main element of each page. The navigation elements are kept simple and can be hidden, so the photographs are not covered. The typographic logo is also shown in full screen mode, where it scales down and becomes transparent. Only black and white are used, from the logo to the backgrounds and the typography, so the emphasis stays on the imagery. The website is responsive and can be operated with a mouse or with the arrow keys.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The design focuses on the strong imagery of the photographer and emphasizes this by using full screen images as a main detail. The navigation elements are kept simple and it is possible to hide them, so the images will not be covered by them. The typographic logo is displayed in full screen mode as well but scales down and transparentizes. In order to set the focus on the images, the only used colors are black and white.
- Dimensions & Packaging
- Responsive web page with always-fullscreen imagery and fullscreen mode in supported browsers.
- Tags
- Clean, Easy-to-use, Photography, Simple, Website, Web Design, Portfolio
- Production Technology
- The web design was created in Adobe Photoshop, Realization Tools: Drupal 7, CSS 3, HTML 5, jQuery
- Design Challenge
- The challenge was to find a way to display photography online in a new and unseen way. To do so I needed the full screen mode. The technical realization happened to be difficult, since the website is responsive. It does not work on every browser, older browsers do not support the fullscreen mode.
- Project Duration
- The project started in May 2014 in Berlin and went live in August 2014. Since then minor iterations are still in progress to present day.
- Operation Flow
- The website can be operated by mouse and keyboard, using arrow keys inside modern browsers. The navigation structure is kept simple, without too many sub pages to the flow flat and the user interested.
- Research
- I browsed several photographers portfolio websites, both, of famous and not yet discovered photographers and filtered design and layout wise for similarities and differences. Many portfolio pages do not have full screen options. I started to focus on the works. My client does not use his own name to publish his photos, we created sort of a brand for the photos. Then I started to look at fashion, furniture and lifestyle brands. They all put the emphasis on the product. In our case the photography becomes the product, at least presentation wise.
- Inspiration
- The main inspiration came through the photographers imagery. He focuses on architecture and nature motifs with a unique point of view. In preparation for the design, I had a look at several portfolio websites to get a best practice overview. I realized, that the information about the photographer often seems more important than the images. So I focused on the images as a key element.
- Image Credits
- Image #1: Photographer: Jannis Hell, Zirkuszelt, 2014.
Image #2: Photographer: Jannis Hell, Ibsens Hotel, 2014.
Image #3: Photographer: Jannis Hell, Shuttered, 2013.
Image #4: Photographer: Jannis Hell, Trockenraum, 2013.
Colors of Eyesbound Portfolio Website
Design Interview about Eyesbound Portfolio Website
The Design aims for monochromatic simplicity to support the content.
I wanted to set a strong emphasis on the imagery and the design to be timeless and adaptive to the content.
Step by step developing it with some more features as well as developing more print solutions, like authenticity cards for buyers of the artworks and a catalogue.
Designing it was a process of 3 weeks.
I was completely free in the design process. After the research period I decided, that the imagery has to be the key element which the design should wrap around.
I keep on producing it myself.
It is one of my first web designs. When I was asked wether I would like to design the page, I thought it might be a nice way to gain experience in the web area.
No, nothing in particular. Though I am strongly influenced by designers like Dieter Rahms or the Bauhaus era, where the reflection on essentials was significant for the design.
Photographers as well as people interested in Photography.
The usage of the website is very intuitive. The focus lies on the artistic works of the photographer. The design is simple and easy to use, it works on an international level without translation into other languages.
The name was given by my client. It stands for the necessity to keep your eyes open and to expect the next motive in everything.
I designed the website in Adobe photoshop.
I had no restrictions designing the page, there was no other briefing than »I need a redesign for my website, can you do that?«. That was unique.
My client is also the programmer I worked with for the realization.
Technology plays a main role in this design. Since it is a website, it should be accessible through all devices and therefore needs to be responsive.
I went online and had a look at many websites with similar content. The design is the outcome of my personal analysis as a user. Some of the portfolio pages I visited were either complicated to use or somehow standard, like a tumblr. I wanted the monitor be the only frame / limitation instead of a container on the website.
Image sizes online and loading them can be tricky and of course cross browser compatibility of some of the features is not given, because of lacking support by older browsers.
I received an e-mail by your Executive Account Manager, introducing the competition and that they saw my design and it might be a good idea to submit it.
To stand behind your work.