Susan Wechsler

Project: Site Revamp + Identity

Susan is an amazing artist, and her old website just wasn't cutting it.  She came to me because she wanted something new.  Her concerns were that the images were too small, and that the site was too feminine in appearance.  I completely agreed.  After seeing Susan's work in person it was clear that it wasn't being represented properly.  Susan's work is HUGE, and deals with big ideas and on themes that are elemental.   The challenge for me was going to be making the pieces seem as huge and alive on a small computer screen, as they did in her studio.  

Susan's old site was made with a Flash template.  Basically, you fill in the blanks. Images go here, text goes there, and you can customize the background colors if you want.  Easy if you're a designer, but this means that visitors have to wait for the entire site to load before seeing it, and (in this case) they have to view the work and information in a format that is completely unsuited to the content.  It also makes updating the site very difficult.

I blew the image up until it "burst out" of it's container.  This left a nice "tab" for text and details to sit on.  This layout left no mistake that the images were important, and it made them look larger and more powerful.  I liked this, but found placing this image on a white background looked too clinical.  I went to see Susan's work at NCAR in Boulder.  Her work was hung on a warm, textured concrete.  Susan loved it and I thought it looked great.  I took some photos of this surface and used it as a background texture for the entire site.

With the images taking such a primary role, everything else had to be minimal.  I set the navigation above and to the right with no graphics or interactive effects.  Within the specific galleries I used the same no-frills navigational system.