Today I get to share with you an amazing project I recently wrapped up. A brand and Squarespace web design project for an artist whose work is so moving, it’s no wonder collectors are starting to snatch up his work before he can even get high quality photos of the completed works!

Before we dive into the project, Samuel had some pretty great things to say about working with me on his project. And since we all know how important it is to feel confident with the designer you choose to work with, I'm sharing his words with you...

“As an artist, having a website is crucial to showing my work, gaining exposure, and recruiting new clients. My aim is to attract high-quality buyers and galleries and my Squarespace website effectively does just that. Sharon came highly recommended and after browsing through her previous websites and discussing my goals, I knew she was the perfect designer to create my website and design my brand. When you work with Sharon the process is very thorough and detailed. She works with you every day of the project in order to get your vision and design just right. She expertly guided me through the process and the end result perfectly represents my style. I now have a professional website that lets my art stand out and speak up. I often need to add new work to the site so it was important to me to be able to easily add new pieces to my galleries. The demo videos Sharon put together make adding artwork to my site so easy! Sharon also is always there to promptly guide me when I encounter an issue that I can’t fix on my own. I whole-heartedly recommend her to anyone who wants a high-quality website that they can easily maintain once the design is done.”

Samuel Prudden is a neo-realist painter who produces work in both oil and acrylic. He’s based in Colorado but has spent much of the last decade working in various Latin American countries and his work is heavily influenced by his time spent in Latin America.

Let’s take a look!

Since Samuel is an artist, it was important to keep his branding and site professional, creative, approachable but also subdued in order to allow his powerful artwork to take center stage on the site.

Adjectives that describe Samuel Prudden look are: bold, minimal, fresh, clean, orderly, sophisticated, illustrative, friendly, masculine and monochromatic.

Samuel is also very drawn to the nostalgia of life during the turn of the century, the romanticism of the 1920’s, and the unchanging character of camaraderie throughout the ages. So this was a major influencer for his look.

Logotype Concepts

Concept 1 | SOPHISTICATED, CLASSIC SERIF

This is a timeless, sophisticated, upper-case serif logotype. There is nice variation of thick and thin elements without losing the bold aspect of the font. The thick and thin elements are very characteristic of early 20th century type. This is a the most classic option.

Concept 2 | MODERN, NOSTALGIC SANS SERIF

CONCEPT 2 is also classic and typical of early 20th century type but with a more modern approach. Sans serif fonts are typically thought of as modern but they became popular in the early 20th century so the focus has been placed on fonts that could be found during that era. The feel is a bit more sleek and stylized here than concept 1 but also leaning towards neutral.

Ultimately Concept 2 was selected and we refined the concept only a tiny bit to make it just perfect.

Concept 3 | INTRIGUING LOWERCASE

This concept pushes the boundaries as compared to the first two. The use of all lowercase for a logotype skews more modern but the font used is classic, clean, sophisticated and nostalgic. This is the most modern interpretation of a timeless classic.

Secondary Logotype, Mark & Business Card

Once the logo was selected and finalized, I moved on to creating the logotype variation and mark. Since Samuel’s business is all about his art, he uses his business cards as a way to remind potential buyers of his work. He prints business cards at Moo (the link includes 20% off your first order – woohoo!) where he can have up to 50 different images on his cards. So one side is always the same – his contact information and the other side gets printed with an image of one of his many pieces of art. What a creative, smart way to promote his work!

To bring the whole brand identity together, I created the brand style guide. It brings all the elements together in one place for future reference anytime an additional design related item needs to be created.

Squarespace Website Design

That last piece of the project was a Squarespace website. As with his branding we kept the site quiet and monochromatic except for the large, high-quality images of his art. The nostalgic, sophisticated art deco feel is subtly reflected by the use of fonts – Futura and Crimson text and they are enhanced by the inclusion of a bold vertical bar. The subtle use of the highlight gold color – named Gatsby, also adds a level of sophistication to the design. Ultimately the design met all Samuel’s goals and will be easy to add additional artwork and galleries as new work is ready to be displayed.