Art of designing an e-art gallery

Abstract

This paper provides insights into the design research process and outcomes of an art gallery website designed by a design studio. Our research indicated that artists often do not exhibit their art work in popular virtual art galleries, not only because intermediation of art curator tends to be cost intensive but also because appropriate art curators are difficult to find. Our research is aimed at developing support for providing value for works of artists through developing an artist friendly website wherein artists can sell their art without the aid of art curators. Physical art galleries design the art display environment for the users in a unique way by providing them a soothing experience of connecting to the art through lighting, space and ambience. We attempt to transfer the same experience virtually to the user. Through multiple methods such as competitor analysis and interviews with art enthusiasts, artists and art curators, we identified certain issues with existing art galleries on the web and jotted requirements for the novel art gallery design. We present the evolution of a new art gallery design including information architecture, wireframe and implementation. We discuss the novel features of the new design such as an art value calculator that helps artists to estimate the value of their art without the aid of an art curator. We will also discuss the issues faced with employing design research methods such as card sorting and interviewing, and then provide certain suggestions for improving specific aspects of these methods.