The challenge
To build a community site that would inspire people to take part in the arts and
allow artists to showcase their work. Mike Summers, CEO of ArtyBiz.com Ltd, has a huge passion for art and wanted to
create a site that conveyed the same passion.
The site had to be great looking, functionally rich and well structured, and packed
full of showcases and events listings.
The solution
We knew right from the start that we weren’t going to get this site right first
time, as there was so much to it and Mike’s passion for art was only matched by
his passion for perfection! Our solution was to launch the site in phases, adding
functionality as we went along – which also meant the site would launch quicker
and initially cost less.
To make sure everything was scrutinised many times before it went live, we created
a stage/live environment so any changes were viewed and tested on the stage site
by ArtyBiz and a team of test
users before being uploaded to the web.
We used the
True Clarity Framework
™ to give us a core set of components on which we built the framework of the
site, and then used ASP.NET not only to offer users the tools they needed to upload
showcases but also to give ArtyBiz
office users complete control over the site’s content.
The site’s primary content is its users’ showcases – so the users had to find things
totally easy to work with or the site would fail right from the start. We built
them a simple step-by-step process in which the site does all the hard work for
them, for example generating thumbnail images.
For the site’s design, another crucial aspect of its success, we worked with tallhatDesign
– completing the package we offered
ArtyBiz.
The result
Since its launch in 2005 ArtyBiz.com
has built a community of over 400 registered users and showcases the work of dozens
of artists. Artists have found that
ArtyBiz gives them a gateway into galleries and overseas buyers, and they’re
delighted with the results.