We just released new goodies for you kittens and cats—and so we thought we’d make a blog post both to explain what these updates are all about — and to jump start some ideas on how you can use them to make your site awesomer-er.
You may have noticed that last month we added GIFs as an Artwork type, so bring on the animated funtimesTM! Other than hi-larious videos of a guy slipping on a banana peel, GIFs can be used on your website more practically as a great way to give a sense of what a complex artwork is like, by showing frames from a time-based video, performance, or photo essay. An absolutely amazing looking way to use GIFs is to give a 360 degree view of 3D work, where you animate moving around a sculpture/installation. We hope you guys have been enjoying this new whizzbang, and just in case you haven’t added a GIF yet...DO IT!
You can easily make GIFs using Photoshop or free online services like imgflip.com, makeagif.com & gifmaker.me
And, because once you have a good thing, you want it everywhere—this week, we added GIF capability, along with Youtube and Vimeo videos, as News, Links and Home Page media too — so you can add a short video about your recent book signing or gallery show, along with the News post about it, or have a video artwork be on your Home Page!
We also created a totally new page type: a Welcome Page! Use this to make a great first impression on your visitors. Some ideas include a beautiful image of your work or studio with your site title on top, or an animated GIF that starts with your name and then cycles through several artworks. This can give people a great start on understanding your practice, and one click takes your viewers through to your home page and the rest of your site.
For my website, I decided to give a preview of my work using an animated GIF. I used http://gifmaker.me/ , which I had never tried before, but it was simple and intuitive.
First, I picked some of my favorite hi-res images of my work, and pasted them into a Photoshop files I created in a relatively “browser shaped” horizontal format, placing my name over top in a font I liked. I then arranged the layers in the order I wanted them to be in in the GIF—which allowed me to “test out” the animation by turning layers on and off.
I then easily uploaded each saved out .jpg layer into GIFmaker, adjusted the speed to my preference, set it to the highest possible quality, and clicked the “Create GIF Animation” button. I then used the link below to download my new GIF, and then uploaded it to the Welcome Page section of my OPP website, selecting “Fill Screen,” but you can test out checking or not checking the boxes to see what you prefer. I love my new welcome animation!
Some other great ways to use the Welcome Page could be to use a still jpg image with text that announces the release of your new monograph or an upcoming workshop, or to showcase your newest project.
No matter what style you choose, it’s generally always going to be a good idea to have your site title or a short welcome message so your viewers know what they’re looking at.
An important thing to note is that we used our OPP wizardry to ensure that people who visit your site don’t see your Welcome Page over and over. They’ll just see it each time they first visit. But this means that you as the site owner will also encounter the same issue, so if you want to preview your Welcome Page as you’re working on it, you can use the “Preview” link that appears after you click the “Update” button while working on your Welcome Page. Alternately, you can delete the /home.html from your URL in the browser and reload the page.
Here are a few OPP-ers who have already discovered this feature and it’s powers:
GIFs
NEON TUNDRA - ALICE BUCKNELL - ‘80s arcade music plays in my head as I watch this for hours.
VIOLET LEMAY - This is beyond cute-dorable.
JENNY KENDLER - Me.
JPGs
JULIE KANAPAUX - Classy & classic.
SHAWN HUCKINS - A great “working in the studio” shot.
CHRIS HERNANDEZ - Bold and intriguing. Blood!
Have a neato Welcome Page you want to share? Send it to weheartart@otherpeoplespixels.com and we’ll share our favorites on Facebook!
Go nuts you crazy kids.