Keren Southall

Top Keren

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( Freelance Project )

The client needed a website portfolio to establish her online presence, and to market her work professionally just as her competing peers.

With a timeline of 4 weeks, we had weekly meetings to ensure we were on track to meet her deadline.

— Keren S. (Actress)

"I feel more confident with sharing my work, and am excited to reach more of my goals"

Keren Southall Webfolio

Challenge:

Many agents were requesting to see her work to which she initially sent individual pieces. She quickly learned that this was not the most sufficient way to present herself in the entertainment industry.

Goals:

Website Goal: Professionally present and market her work online to target audiences.
Financial Goal: Increase her booking rates and potential earnings.
Aesthetic Goal: Minimal aesthetic so work is in always in the forefront.

Design Process:

RResearch

Stakeholder Interviews: Conducted a session with the owner to understand project goals and target users.

In Summary, key priorities include creating a polished, audience-centric website that provides easy access to essential materials, facilitates seamless bookings, and meets industry standards by showcasing her SAG eligibility and duality as a an upcoming producer.

Professionalism and Versatility Drive the Brand: Keren’s brand emphasizes a dual perspective as both an actress and producer, uniquely positioning her to stand out in the acting and commercial space. The focus on community-building, collaboration, and relationship retention enhances her credibility and appeal to casting directors, producers, and agents.
Audience-Centric Website Design: Patrons mentioned they did not know what services were offered and who’d provide the service(s).
Streamlined Booking and Repository Goals: Keren aims to reduce reliance on manual reel-sharing by creating a central repository that highlights her professionalism and facilitates seamless booking opportunities. This goal underscores the need for an intuitive, visually engaging platform that communicates her talent and value efficiently.
Viewing preferences: Keren mentioned that her audience of producers, casting directors, and agents typically view work on larger screens, so the desktop view was key.

Competitor Analysis: Analyzed 3 successful local salon websites to identify successful design patterns.

Syra

Bailey

Natalia

Findings: Being able to easily find and browse repository via categories are key for the target audience.

RWireframing

Low-fidelity V1: Wireframes focused on simplified navigation via sketches for key pages: Home and About Pages.

High-Fidelity Design: Based on the sketches, I comped various layout options with an emphasis on the clients professional work in the forefront.

( Home Pages )

( Work Pages )

( Print Work Pages )

( About Pages )

Reviewed options with client, where she most notably mentioned commented on layout and how it would reflect her work. She wanted her audience to immediately see all the information as soon as they land on the page, so she opted for more condensed options.

Feedback: She wanted her audience to immediately see all the information as soon they land on the page, so she opted for the more condense options.

With her feedback in mind, I incorporated either a title or subcategories on most pages to ensure visitors could quickly see

her actress scope.

I also presented 2 options for the navigation bar to strengthen her audiences ability to quickly get an overview of what her web-folio features along with her accolades in a clear and visible manner. My goal was to prevent excessive digging for content.

Primary and Secondary Navigation Explained

While designing in WIX, most pages remained 1:1 to the hi-wireframes, with the exception of the About Page

and the addition of accent colors.

( CTA and Menu CTA's now have accent colors to create contrast, be visible, and reactive to visitors inputs )

( Before and After of the About Page )

While working on the original concept, something was off about the design. It was not in alignment with her

vision of condensed content. So, I ideated and restructured the layout with a layered approach that had movement. The onlooker would not only be able to read and get to know her, but they’d also view her professional headshots simultaneously without the need to scroll in the desktop version, something they would’ve done in the original option.

Validation: Conducted usability testing with 3 people.

User 1: "It’s easy to use, not cluttered, and straight-forward."
User 2: (Agent): "It’s good to see good headshots because we want to see you…This site is easy to navigate. I can see everything well."
User 3: "I think more color would be nice, but that might be a personal preference, but I can see why you opted for minimal color because the focus should just be on the actress."

Clients feedback on the changes were positive. She felt that her vision was captured well and would assist her toward reaching her goals.

Outcome:

RImpact

Impact 1: Client noted that she’s received more inquires and opportunities for work since releasing her site and sharing it amongst her peers and potential employers.
Impact 2: Her agent can more confidently represent her when connecting her to opportunities

RReflection

Reflection: With such a short timeframe to complete this project while wearing many hats—i.e. project manager, designer, reviewer, etc— it was important to ensure that the design solution met industry standards. So, I often turned to research to validate my design decisions and adhered to established and effective web patterns. The client relied heavily in my creative expertise, but I can admit that I am not an expert in all things, so I referenced experts in my field to either strengthen or inform my design decision.