Here are my home, illustration, contact, and about page digital layouts done on photoshop. I went with the idea to have the links be on the left-hand side, possibly turn golden if hovered over, and be italic once it is used.
The home page will contain a slideshow of my best work. 
The illustration, graphic design, and art direction page will have this grid layout.
The about me page will have a self-portrait and a paragraph explaining what I do.
The contact page will have contact info and a message box. 
I feel I have learned a lot recently about web design. I now know how to create a web site and what it means to bring your brand and identity into your portfolio site. Thinking of what your brand and identity is and how it will work across all platforms is one of the hardest choices you have to make as an artist because that is what people will see and judge you on just by appearance. There are many routes that can be taken, too. You can go for a fun look if maybe one is a children’s book illustrator. Or you can go for a professional clean look if you hope to be a graphic designer. For me, I plan to work as both a graphic designer and a freelance illustrator so I went for a clean sophisticated look using white, teal, and turquoise.
Then, there is the coding side of web design that you have to do to make your site appear as you imagine it in your digital layouts. I found a user-friendly navigation bar (that is also mobile-friendly) that I had to change the gradient in, add my own links to, and change the positioning of. I also found a light box that worked for me that allowed users to view an image in slideshow mode and at the bottom of the screen users can scroll through the other images to view. So maybe my site did not turn out like my initial digital layouts but that was before I knew I would find these great components to use on my site.
In the future, I will always be working on my site. I will always be working on illustrations or other work and adding it onto my site. There is always an opportunity to make things better.
