A photographer who hates computers needs a self-manageable online portfolio.
Although Axel is a Photoshop wizard who turns construction sites into beautiful architectural landscapes, he has deep-seated aversions towards digital interfaces. At the same time, he wants to have as much control as possible over his website. So this case is not only about his clients playing the role of the user – he himself is the one I was researching and designing for.
UX, UI, Explainer
Being skeptical not only about all things digital (except maybe his cameras) but also about self-marketing, our initial talks focused on defining the site’s identity and, most importantly, its tonality.
We settled on a no-nonsense approach that strongly emphasizes the pictures themselves and uses text very cautiously, only to provide further information on the projects. So, instead of an »about« page, the site starts with an introductory slate that vanishes after being clicked.
The second most important issue was that Axel wanted a system allowing him to add and tweak projects independently, anytime. So the backend needed to fit his needs, as well.
We scanned several other architecture photographer portfolios to look for clean designs that make up the industry’s standard — the site aimed to connect to well-established user experiences. To show the variety of sub-topics in Axel’s work, we opted for a non-hierarchical approach that instantly mirrors said variety: a three-column masonry layout.
The challenge was to group and differentiate the projects, so we took quite some time to find the appropriate wording by doing card-sorting research.
The first iteration featured the categories in a submenu:
The second iteration switched to filters – to ease navigation and show the categories right away:
After a few iterations of the final design, building the WordPress installation, and also managing the technical transition to a new server, I created templates for the project pages that could be easily copied and adapted by Axel.
The aim was his independence in creating and editing the content of his portfolio. To enable him I produced a few step-by-step videos (screen recordings with voice-over) that explained the processes. He then proceeded to add content on his own.
The site had three criteria to measure its success: improving customer relations, customer acquisition, and the sustainability of managing the site.
Besides the overall positive feedback from agencies, customers, and architecture offices, he acquired nearly 80 new clients in the following two years. As an unexpected bonus, he has also sold pictures directly via the site – which he still manages independently.
A photographer who hates computers needs a self-manageable online portfolio.
Although Axel is a Photoshop wizard who turns construction sites into beautiful architectural landscapes, he has deep-seated aversions towards digital interfaces. At the same time, he wants to have as much control as possible over his website. So this case is not only about his clients playing the role of the user – he himself is the one I was researching and designing for.
UX, UI, Explainer
Being skeptical not only about all things digital (except maybe his cameras) but also about self-marketing, our initial talks focused on defining the site’s identity and, most importantly, its tonality.
We settled on a no-nonsense approach that strongly emphasizes the pictures themselves and uses text very cautiously, only to provide further information on the projects. So, instead of an »about« page, the site starts with an introductory slate that vanishes after being clicked.
The second most important issue was that Axel wanted a system allowing him to add and tweak projects independently, anytime. So the backend needed to fit his needs, as well.
We scanned several other architecture photographer portfolios to look for clean designs that make up the industry’s standard — the site aimed to connect to well-established user experiences. To show the variety of sub-topics in Axel’s work, we opted for a non-hierarchical approach that instantly mirrors said variety: a three-column masonry layout.
The challenge was to group and differentiate the projects, so we took quite some time to find the appropriate wording by doing card-sorting research.
The first iteration featured the categories in a submenu:
The second iteration switched to filters – to ease navigation and show the categories right away:
After a few iterations of the final design, building the WordPress installation, and also managing the technical transition to a new server, I created templates for the project pages that could be easily copied and adapted by Axel.
The aim was his independence in creating and editing the content of his portfolio. To enable him I produced a few step-by-step videos (screen recordings with voice-over) that explained the processes. He then proceeded to add content on his own.
The site had three criteria to measure its success: improving customer relations, customer acquisition, and the sustainability of managing the site.
Besides the overall positive feedback from agencies, customers, and architecture offices, he acquired nearly 80 new clients in the following two years. As an unexpected bonus, he has also sold pictures directly via the site – which he still manages independently.
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