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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.
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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.
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I explained the importance of a website and online exposure. Two weeks later they hired me to build a website.​​​
My Process
STAKEHOLDER DISCUSSIONS:​
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We decided upon an available domain name: "Dakota Wood Art."
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We decided upon a slogan: "Wildlife in Wood."
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We decided Gary would make a wooden LOGO in the shape of the state of
North Dakota.
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We ideated upon the domain name, slogan and Gary's work to develop a
"home page" (pictured above).​
RESEARCH:​​​
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Internet research revealed that Gary is REALLY good, if not one of the best
intarsia artists in the world.
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Research also revealed that the majority of intarsia artists create more
KITSCHY "art" versus the larger and more COMPLEX PIECES Gary creates.​​​​​​
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS:​​​
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INDIRECT competitors were identified as those making "kitschy" or souvenir
intarsia.
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DIRECT competitors were identified as those making fine art intarsia.
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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:
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HEURISTIC ANALYSES:​​
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Only DIRECT competitors' websites were analyzed. The following conclusions were drawn:​​​​​
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​ TOO many websites have WAY too much TEXT;
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Too little focus on the actual work (quite often because work is poor);
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Too much "kitschiness" and "cheesiness"; many have a very
"American-centric" focus (i.e. lots of red white and blue);
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Poor layouts, confusing and unorganized, often with faux-wood
decorations that feel like cheap wallpaper​
The Build
WEBSITE LAYOUT:​
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Per stakeholder discussions, a very clean and simple site map was
established.​
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The MENU was pinned to the side to allow for the majority of the screen to
showcase Gary's work.
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The LOGO Gary created was pinned to the upper left hand quadrant.
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ICONS for "shopping cart," "search," "account" and a "facebook link" were
pinned below the menu.
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The wooden SLOGAN text was created in photoshop to match the bison and
its wintry background.​​​​
THE WILDLIFE:​
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This section was a feature ideation based upon stakeholder discussions.
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The goal was to photoshop Gary's wildlife into real life settings to highlight
the incredible realism of his work.​​
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The "Wildlife section" was placed in first menu position to grab attention.
FOR SALE:​
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This section was placed in second menu position as it is the first place we
want people to go after viewing the "Wildlife."
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Details include the price and the amount and variety of wood used (emphasis
on no stains or paints ever used).
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"ZOOM IN" function allows customers to see the incredible detail of Gary's
work.​​​
COMMISSIONED WORK:​
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Per stakeholder discussions, this section was a MUST.​
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Gary does commissioned work, specifically for pets: Dogs, cats and
even - no joke - a red panda (wait for it).​​​​​​​
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IN THE SHOP & ABOUT THE ARTIST:​
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I felt it was important - after researching Gary and his competition - that HE
be just as much a FOCUS as his work.​
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"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.
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The intent was to show Gary's process while keeping a light and fun
and easy going tone (much like Gary himself).
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"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:​
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Gary constantly creates new art which I update to the "Wildlife" and "For
Sale" sections.​​
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SEOs need to be constantly updated.
FUTURE IDEATION:​
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Would like to add some video to the "In the Shop" section.
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Would eventually like to rebuild site on WIX where I would have more control
over the website design.​