…. Except, …no, it doesn’t.
We recently launched a website for an award winning photographer in Owings Mills, MD and the initial reaction from people ranged from “Wow the website looks amazing!” to “That is a gorgeous website!”, and so on.
But, they’re wrong. Yes, the initial vision of the website is a beautiful work of art. However, what you’re seeing is not our web design wizardry and artistic puffery. In fact, you’re seeing the opposite.
After doing days of research on Photography websites, I found the most successful and world renowned photographers all have the same thing in common, and that is a plain, boring web design. What you are seeing that is catching your eye and culling a reaction is the photographer’s work itself. The web design takes a back seat and rightly so. Muted, monotone colors, grey, whites, blacks, all lend themselves to pop the portfolio with maximum effect. A bright and fancy website design would only fight with and possible eclipse the work of the photographer. This is counter-intuitive to any web designer, but makes sense to anyone who has their clients’ success in mind. Sometimes the web designer has to get out of the spotlight. Artists like this are a perfect example.
Now, say if you had an accounting software based company, where the product wasn’t flashy. That’s where the contrast of a hot web design would come into play, like this (Website: Informed Systems Quickbooks Sales)
Contrast is sexy and we are in the sexy website business. We want you to be attractive and for your website to magnetize you for new customers. It works. So, don’t expect flashy websites from us on future Photographers and artists. Expect us to pull back and push forward the wow that the photographer provides. Before you know it, you’ll be hiring them for your next event because their website was so, ahem, impressive.