Class:MFA Illustration 2025/Week 16

This Week

• Welcome back!
• Lets check-in
• Assignments, softwares & tablets? How has it impacted your 1st semester?
  • Advantages?
  • Challenges?
  • Loose ends?
• Working digitally and the rest of the MFAI year one workload?
• What are we going to do this semester?

Internet and Online Portfolio Notes

History of the Internet

The Internet started in the 1960s as a way for government researchers to share information. The internet that we know today started in the early 1990s with the introduction of the World Wide Web.

• Only eight minutes of your life - History of the Internet
• History of the Internet on WIkipedia

Registering Your Domain Names

The process of looking good online begins with registering your domain name(s).

I have created a Domain Registrars reference page for you here.

• You should really consider registering your domain name at a legitimate domain registrar and hosing at a separate company. It will provide you with much more flexibility and protection should something go wrong.
• Sending web traffic to one host, or multiple hosts and redirecting your email traffic is all done from your Domain Registrar.
• If you have an existing domain registered with another company, you can easily TRANSFER it to your Domain Registrar - and you should.
• 5 Recommendations for choosing the right domain name for author, and illustrator websites

Hosting Your Sites

Some of you will end up using a hosted web site solution and not need to setup a dedicated web host, others will end up needing to upload your website to a dedicated host.

Do you need a dedicated host?

Will you be building your website yourself (HTML/CSS) and uploading it? - Yes

Will you be using indexhibit or Wordpress to build your website? - Yes

Will be using a hosted solution like Wix, Squarespace or Cargo to build your website? - No

Even if it is not your main website, will you need to export galleries and post them online for friends/clients to see? - Possibly

It's important to go with a Hosting Provider that you trust, one that you can contact when you need some help.

I have created a Hosting Providers reference page for you here.

• My preference for all of you is to go with Dreamhost over Godaddy for JUST the hosting part.

Hosting Your Email

Depending on the website solution and hosting solution you pick, you might need Email Hosting, or better Email Hosting.

I have created a Email Hosting Services reference page for you here.

Illustration Site Building (CMS) Solutions

There was a time where an Illustrator would build (or hire somebody to build) their website from scratch. Adding and removing content from these websites would require somebody to edit the HTML and upload the changes to a web server. Successful websites are no longer built like this... Content Management Systems (CMS) have redefined how the internet works. These tools are either hosted, or need to be installed on your webserver to run.

This week I introduced the class to the concept of Content Managed Solutions. We will be spending a lot of time looking at these options.

I have created a Site Building (CMS) Solutions reference page for you here.

Brand & your Personal Visual Identity notes

What Is Branding? 4 Minute Crash Course

Marty Neumeier started as a graphic designer and copywriter in the 1970s. In 1984, when the Macintosh launched, he moved to Silicon Valley to help companies like Apple, Netscape, HP, Adobe, and Google build their brands.

"A brand is a result–it's a person's gut feeling about a product, service or company. It's in their heads and in their hearts. A brand is your reputation."

"Your brand isn’t what you say it is. It’s what they say it is."

5 Steps to Building a Personal Brand You Feel Good About | The Way We Work, a TED series

Whether you realize it or not, you have a personal brand, says social entrepreneur Marcos Salazar -- and you have the power to shape what it is. Here's how you can create a brand that captures who you are, who you'd like to be and how you want to make an impact on the world.

Personal Branding on Behance

behance.net/search?content=projects&user_tags=993255