Combining an art portfolio with a proffessional portfolio

[LadyFromEast]

So, this is an issue I've been over the fence with for some time already, and still haven't come up with the best solution as of yet. Hence, I decided to go out to the wider public and ask your opinion and views on the matter. Perhaps some of you have had a similar issue before.

When it comes to being a visual artist, having an online portfolio is often a must nowadays. It helps you showcase your art and often lets you organize it in ways you are unable to on art sites, and is free of comments, praiseful or not, and of statistics as well (in most cases). It is clean, understandable, proffessional, free of personal issues and to the point.

Things get a bit complicated however when you contribute to more than one, let's call it "field" for the time being, of art in general.

Bringing up my personal example, I'm an architect and interior designer as well as being an artist. While it is awesome to be all of the above and employers are often happy with that notion, sometimes even fascinated someone actually sticks to the old and mundane (yep, I have heared such opinions by employers and architects several times) traditional, there are some issues that come with it.

NSFW art of all sorts. This irks me most. Why?

Imagine you're an employer who has been given a portfolio of a person you might or might not hire, and want to see their work. While you might be only interested in architecture, other parts of the website might still catch your attention, and this is when the fun begins. As a proffessional, what would your reaction be if you stumbled upon, apart from, let's say, design-related items, also upon fairly ambiguous or straight up sexual artwork on your potential employee's portfolio?

Does it prove that the author is interested in and skilled in diverse fields, portraying him or her as an open-minded individual, or does it show the person is not a proffesional, who mixes and confuses art and design fields, and is additionally (please forgive me for the term) a lecher?

Should these things be kept together, but be tagged properly on the site, or maybe do they belong on different sub-websites alltogether? Perhaps the portfolios should be even divided into separate domains? What would be your approach on the matter?

I'm also not talking about art profiles, since these are a separate matter alltogether.

As I said before, I've been over the fence with this issue, even more so since I decided to open myself more to the furry community and offer the possibility of drawing NSFW art. While it is a big improvement and a step forward for me which makes me happy and proud, it also makes me bashful and unsure how to proceed with the matter portfolio-wise.

Proceeding to a real-life example, I am linking my portfolio here to show how it looks at present date (some parts still being under construction, for which I apologize).

milewska.weebly.com: Iwona J. Milewska Art & Design

What are your views on the matter and how such issues like this may be solved in a feasible manner?

Looking forward to your replies!

 

[CrazyDragon]

Coming from a professional who has worked in the animation and visual effects industry, I think NSFW should be on a separate domain, completely unaffiliated with your portfolio, and with you.
'Not Safe for Work' is not safe for work for a reason, if you didn't get hired for the sole reason you had sexual imagery on your site, you would probably kick yourself. I'm not saying it's bad to draw porn, or you should be ashamed, it's just not professional to life outside the internet. Life drawing is an exception because it's a form of art and the learning and appreciation of the human form.

In terms of your website, this is just my opinion and you can take it with a grain of salt! Also I know it's under construction so if I am annoying or offend you with any of my points, I am really sorry, I just want to help!

My first impression: You have beautiful art and a great sense of design! But overall there is too much content, too many links, too many redirects for a professional portfolio.
An employer may get lost, or bored even, if they have to spend more time clicking around instead of just being presented with the best representation of you.

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Here are some examples that I find are successful through simplicity:

Claire Hummel | Visual Development & Illustration
She keeps her homepage simple, the welcome mat of the website. It presents who she is (Claire Hummel), what she does (Visual Development - Illustration), and that's all.
The rest is organized by five links only, and that's all you really need. If you want to expand more, try using subfolders instead but again, keep it simple.

www.ellenjewettsculpture.com: Home
Another simple page introducing the who, (Ellen Jewett) and what she does (sculpting). She has five links to navigate through her page as well (not including the home button)

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These are just my suggestions for what you could do for your site:

Home Page:
Your name, what you do and an image you feel is a good representation of you and your current skills (if you are more interested in being hired for architectural design, choose something from that)
Iwona J. Milewska
Design & Illustration

Design:
Your architectural/design work
In your design new page, it's great to list what you're proficient in, but I would remove any software you have zero experience in and just keep the ones you do.

Illustration:
Your personal and commissioned artwork.
I noticed you have Art, and then Art New, then in the art new section you subdivided all your different types of art (ie portraits, landscape, animals).
When you present yourself, you want to show the best of the best! Show them what you've got, and impress people into hiring you. Try to keep it all under one gallery and pick only what you think is your best work (20 - 40 pieces)

About:
A page about you, if you can link to a PDF of your resume this is a great addition to a portfolio site.
Here you can also have a 'Where else to find me' and link other external sites (I don't recommend linking FA).
This is a good opportunity to present someone an option to see more of your work, outside of what you have on your site.

Contact:
This would replace your 'commission' tab. Here you can explain your services as you have it now, but I don't think you should link to another website, that then links you to other websites. It's too many steps.
Providing an email is all you really need if someone needs to contact you regarding employment (be it for architectural work or illustration), it's just easy, and people like it when you make it easy for them.


Hope this helps, less is more!

 

[LadyFromEast]

Dear CrazyDragon,

Thank you so much for such comprehensive and exhaustive reply! I have been anxious and undecided regarding NSFW art, and now that I know all this that you have mentioned I will be sure to keep it away from my proffessional portfolio, perhaps on my Furaffinity page or on a separate domain, once I draw them and the amount is enough so that placing them on a separate website is feasible. Your statements explained a lot and I am really grateful!

As for the insight on my website - every opinion is greatly appreciated and I always listen to feedback, so no need to worry
My biggest problem is managing the giant amount of information I want to include on a small-ish website and keeping it clean and readable at the same time.
Your input is really priceless, and I'll definetly keep it in mind while working on my website and polishing it!
Thank you so much!