A few months back I was able to re-connect with a college friend, Jessica Higgins on Facebook.  I saw that she was starting to take her photography more serious and was looking to branch out. She already had a blogspot site, but I assumed that she might want something more professional. I shot her a message and we began discussing the idea of building a website for her.

After designing the logo (see details here) I started designing the website. My first layout was based on a wordpress blog that would highlight a few recent photo shoots. Jess didn’t want it to look so “blogg-y”. I then opted to keep it simple and design a clean website that would keep the focus on her photography. A white website with a single row of buttons that would be broken up by a centered logo would work perfectly.

The photo galleries were based on another site that Jess had seen before. She was able to find a free photo-viewer. Building it as an XML-based Flash gallery also gave her the opportunity to update her galleries when she wants to.

As I said, her previous site was a blog, so I wanted to add an area where she could post new photos and allow viewers to comment. I modified WordPress’ “default” theme so that it matched up with the rest of the site.

For the home page, I wanted something that would grab the viewer’s attention. A crisp collage showcasing Jess’ specialties would work perfectly. I usually like to design using bold colors and shapes, but this project allowed me to try something far from my comfort zone.

UPDATE: Sialia Photography has moved to a new web host/design. If you would like to see the site that I created, please click here.