A couple of years ago, deviantART was, I would say, at the lead of social networking; there weren't many sites that had a community like deviantART did, or even does. However, with time, I personally don't feel deviantART has adapted to the deeply integrated nature of web services. Moreover, though some of the designs I've seen have been really attractive, they're just a rehash of what already exists. This is an opportunity for dA to really branch out, if only it will.

Because I've disliked how some things have gone--and have voiced my opinion--I thought it'd be silly for me to not follow my words with actions when the portfolio article came up, and so I have created this: deviantEXPOSURE. It's meant to be sleek and fast-loading, professionally-presented and a way for you to boost your exposure on sites outside of deviantART, as much as on the site.

The following are the details of this design.

0. Basics
LELIA, you could have used a million and one colors, why did you choose almost all the same ones as deviantART? Because this portfolio, though meant to be more personalized, is still tied to deviantART. If someone browses to your store or user page from your portfolio, you do not want them to get a shock of a totally different design (less experienced users sometimes even associate that as being on another website!). Also, considering deviantART would be hosting your portfolio, it is only fair to stick with their current brand colors to a degree. I’ve also opted to use few images. This way the most important stuff—your art and photograph—is all the person browsing your portfolio has to wait on. They don’t want fancy backgrounds. They want to see your work.

Everything should be optional! If this is going to be a true portfolio, users should be able to add and subtract all parts. For instance, if you don’t want a contact form, you shouldn’t have to have it, etc. I think users should also be given the ability to rework the layout (click and drag blocks via AJAX?)—so if you want hiring information up top, you could have it, or your biography beneath your artwork thumbnails. It would be good if users could move the sidebar to the left or right, too. That’s the other reason I’ve kept the design simple...so it is highly customizable.

1. Deviously Hosted
I felt that the usual header of deviantART would severely harm the professional nature one would want in a portfolio, yet it would be unfair to deviantART--the servers hosting your work!--to remove all credit. And so, welcome in the "deviously hosted" image.

2. Tabbed Navigation
Users should be able to edit these links, opt in to some, opt out to others. If they have a print store, it should be assumed that they would like to sell their artwork, and so that would be an automatic tab if the artist has a store. I think there would have to be a limit of three or four tabs, because they're big (to be prominent), and you wouldn't want to screw around with people on low resolutions.

3. The About Section
Here is where users would get to present themselves to the world. Basics would be a specifically-sized artist photo (if the artist wishes to upload one). I think this would be wise, because, generally, someone coming to your professional portfolio is a lot less interested in seeing your cheeky face as they are your artwork--hopefully. A gender icon is in the bottom right corner of the photo. A country flag would precede any city and state information a user wishes to share. Using these icons can be a visual clue in to your visitors, but both the icons and any coinciding text take up little space, thus keeping the page clean.

A professional portfolio isn't going to look good with a username, I don't think. I mean, honestly, would you, for example, take "butterfly85" as seriously as "Angela Williams?" A user could opt out of this--just use their username--but a professional portfolio looks better with a real name, and artists wishing to branch out from dA should be taught that.

On the backend, I think users should be given two parts to their biography: the excerpt and the extended version. This way, you could only put the first paragraph or a summary of your biography on your portfolio, thus not cluttering up the page. Those interested in reading more could choose to see the extended version, which perhaps should be served up through a Javascript popup or a lightbox, so the servers wouldn’t have to make a whole new page. (dA does not need to do everything with AJAX, though! It can really slow things down sometimes!)

"Show some love" = social networking. deviantART needs to branch out, and if you want good exposure, you might as well make use of the tools that are out there. There are so many wonderful sites that connect you to a world of possibilities. I think, on the backend, it would be wise for there to be a bunch of opt in options for various social networking tools (del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, Digg, etc.). The "show some love" link in the about section would be an anchor link to the information in the sidebar.

RSS. This is more my dream. deviantART has RSS syndication, but it’s rather poor. To me, RSS is a really powerful thing, and as more people become aware of it, more people are going to use it. For users who don’t wish to sign up to deviantART to be notified of your artwork, via the messaging system, RSS is what they could use; this gives you exposure in an unlimited number of places and situations, really. If deviantART is willing to tie in the FeedBurner tool (thus serving up feed stats?), there could even be email newsletters through the RSS. The idea for RSS is that you’re going to reach people beyond deviantART. It will open up this site more.

4. Artwork
As you can see, I've created two versions: the version I think deviantART would be willing to use, and the version I'd WISH deviantART would use (the second one). The onle reason I don't see dA using the second version is because it would require them to serve up yet another version of thumbnails. I believe that would stress the servers and slow things down--bad idea. So yeah, just 'cause I'm anal, you get to see what I want, versus what I'm submitting, in a way.

Each thumb has a couple of blocks beneath it: one to the category and one to the prints and products (the latter block would not exist in cases of where a user does not have a print account). I felt adding the category would prepare users to your portfolio of what the work was like. The prints button is to help remind people that you have prints available. It's done on each thumbnail that has an associated print. I feel that deviantART's current method of showing there is a print is rather poor; this is up front and obviously set apart.

5. Your Links
A link to your website (if applicable) and one to your deviantART page. The deviantART page gets a more prominent colour, because deviantART would be hosting you. They have to keep cred, yo.

6. Hiring Information
Optional section for hiring information. Users could upload (or point to offsite URLs?) of PDFs and Word versions of their resumes. I have also integrated LinkedIn, a networking site for careers. Again, this is to help deviantART branch out and for you to build up your name and portfolio.

7. Contact
Like the need for RSS and social networking, a contact form would enable people to converse with you, even if they didn’t have a deviantART account (VERY needed). This is good for two reasons. One, you don’t have to openly share your email address to be contacted—meaning less spam. Two, people are a lot more willing to use a form than open up their email programs and contact you. You’ll be contacted more, in other words. More opportunities.

8. Show Some Love
Mentioned above as well. If you missed it: "Show some love" = social networking. deviantART needs to branch out, and if you want good exposure, might as well make use of the tools that are out there. There are so many wonderful sites that connect you to a world of possibilities. I think, on the backend, it would be wise for there to be a bunch of opt in options for various social networking tools (del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, Digg, etc.).

9. Other Profiles
A block that users can opt in to submit links to their other profiles online--any profile. If you want to link to Facebook or even an obscure profile on some forum, it should be your choice. Integrate.

I think that after five or ten links, though, perhaps the rest should be carried to a popup (to avoid cluttering the page).

10. Creative Commons
I was really pleased this go-around to see deviantART bringing in CC licensing. Protect (or share) your whole portfolio with a CC license.

11. Awards, Honors and Testimonials
What they sound like! With the testimonials, I think non-dA users should be given some ability to comment as well. Though, to protect against spam or potentially harmful comments, a user would need some means of moderating what was said about them and their portfolio.

Well, that's it. deviantEXPOSURE is what I'm submitting, because there are some good artists here--but damn, they're hard to find sometimes...--so this is to get your name out there in a professional way. Linking to other profiles, and giving visitors the ability to share your information on other sites, is what will help you.

*Icons courtesy of open source FamFamFam and Sweetie sets.

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Lelia Katherine Thomas
www.leliathomas.com
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