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Dakota Wood Art
Website construction and maintenance for one of the best intarsia artists in the world
see below
CONTENTS:
What is Intarsia?
INTARSIA is the art of decorating a surface with inlaid patterns, especially of wood mosaic, developed during the Renaissance.
Setup
Type:
Website Design
Role:
Timeline:
Sole Designer
2023 to present
Background
I met Gary and Maggie Stende (both retired) at an art gallery in Fargo, ND.
I was blown away by Gary's work. However, when Maggie presented further examples, she did so via a plastic photo album with physical prints.
I explained the importance of a website and online exposure. Two weeks later they hired me to build a website.
My Process
STAKEHOLDER DISCUSSIONS:
We decided upon an available domain name: "Dakota Wood Art."
We decided upon a slogan: "Wildlife in Wood."
We decided Gary would make a wooden LOGO in the shape of the state of
North Dakota.
We ideated upon the domain name, slogan and Gary's work to develop a
"home page" (pictured above).
RESEARCH:
Internet research revealed that Gary is REALLY good, if not one of the best
intarsia artists in the world.
Research also revealed that the majority of intarsia artists create more
KITSCHY "art" versus the larger and more COMPLEX PIECES Gary creates.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS:
INDIRECT competitors were identified as those making "kitschy" or souvenir
intarsia.
DIRECT competitors were identified as those making fine art intarsia.
Competitive Analysis had one major REVEAL:
Both indirect and direct competitors almost always used PRE-ESTABLISHED
PATTERNS. Gary, however, draws all his patterns by hand:
VS
HEURISTIC ANALYSES:
Only DIRECT competitors' websites were analyzed. The following conclusions were drawn:
TOO many websites have WAY too much TEXT;
Too little focus on the actual work (quite often because work is poor);
Too much "kitschiness" and "cheesiness"; many have a very
"American-centric" focus (i.e. lots of red white and blue);
Poor layouts, confusing and unorganized, often with faux-wood
decorations that feel like cheap wallpaper
The Build
WEBSITE LAYOUT:
Per stakeholder discussions, a very clean and simple site map was
established.
The MENU was pinned to the side to allow for the majority of the screen to
showcase Gary's work.
The LOGO Gary created was pinned to the upper left hand quadrant.
ICONS for "shopping cart," "search," "account" and a "facebook link" were
pinned below the menu.
The wooden SLOGAN text was created in photoshop to match the bison and
its wintry background.
THE WILDLIFE:
This section was a feature ideation based upon stakeholder discussions.
The goal was to photoshop Gary's wildlife into real life settings to highlight
the incredible realism of his work.
The "Wildlife section" was placed in first menu position to grab attention.
FOR SALE:
This section was placed in second menu position as it is the first place we
want people to go after viewing the "Wildlife."
Details include the price and the amount and variety of wood used (emphasis
on no stains or paints ever used).
"ZOOM IN" function allows customers to see the incredible detail of Gary's
work.
COMMISSIONED WORK:
Per stakeholder discussions, this section was a MUST.
Gary does commissioned work, specifically for pets: Dogs, cats and
even - no joke - a red panda (wait for it).
IN THE SHOP & ABOUT THE ARTIST:
I felt it was important - after researching Gary and his competition - that HE
be just as much a FOCUS as his work.
"In the Shop" was inspired by all the artists I see on Instagram who
emphasize HOW they make their work MORE than the final product.
The intent was to show Gary's process while keeping a light and fun
and easy going tone (much like Gary himself).
"About the Artist" is pretty self-explanatory. Main goal was to match the light
and fun and easy going tone of "In the Shop."
Conclusion
MAINTENANCE:
Gary constantly creates new art which I update to the "Wildlife" and "For
Sale" sections.
SEOs need to be constantly updated.
FUTURE IDEATION:
Would like to add some video to the "In the Shop" section.
Would eventually like to rebuild site on WIX where I would have more control
over the website design.