Last year Allison Malafronte, an established fine-arts writer and curator struck out on her own and launched Art Independent, a fine arts consulting company.

She needed a website for her new venture. The design had to be sophisticated to appeal to her art world clients. But it also had to communicate personality and warmth to match the one-on-one services she offers.

Allison had a pretty good idea how the site should look, but didn't want to handle the web design herself. She had a tight deadline for getting Art Independent up-and-running and needed to focus on other areas of her new business.

Allison hired a freelance web designer, but it didn't work out, and she felt burned by the experience. Then she found PhotoBiz.

“I am very grateful that of all the website-design / building services out there (and I researched them all), I had the good fortune to find PhotoBiz,” Allison wrote to us.  

The Right Designer for the Job

We paired Allison with Kristi C., one of our in-house PhotoBiz Web Designers.

“I felt a connection to Allison’s project because we both came up in the art world”, says Kristi. “I love art history, so working on Art Independent excited me.”

Kristi kicked off the project with our PhotoBiz Web Design Questionnaire. This helped Allison quickly relay her requirements, tastes, and business goals. Kristi used Allison’s answers to deliver custom designs that fit Art Independent’s unique situation.  

Behind the Scenes of Art Independent's Design

Kristi and Allison agreed that a black, serif font would evoke the look of a classic newspaper or magazine. This would give Allison’s clients the immediate impression that Art Independent understands their world. Red was chosen as an accent to give the design a spark of energy.

Kristi recommended using Allison’s own portrait on the homepage to increase engagement. “When I’m on a website the first thing I want to see is who I am working with,” Kristi explained.

Allison was concerned that adding her own photo would make the website too “me-focused.” She later agreed to include a “Meet the Founder” section on the site with her image front and center.

Allison then used our PhotoBiz "We Do It For You" service to load her content and quickly launch her site.  

The Benefit of Great Design

So, did the design of Art Independent resonate with her audience? In Allison's own words:

"I am getting such incredible feedback and compliments on how the website looks.

Kristi should be highly commended for making this whole process so smooth and stress-free. She always took the time to listen and implement the specific vision I had (and she often had even better suggestions).

I will be recommending PhotoBiz to every photographer and artist I know who is looking to build a website."

Do you need a fresh design for your website?

Learn how our PhotoBiz design process can deliver a tailored look for your website, while keeping you in control.