Building A Digital Home for an Artist

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Client: Genara Cristina Necos – Emerging Playwright & Published Author

Project: Design and build a portfolio website from scratch

Goal: Document Genara's recent theatrical debut, reinforce her credibility as a professional artist, and position her to secure new production opportunities in the theatre world and beyond.

Services: Website strategy, copywriting, site architecture, design, development

Timeline: 6 weeks

EXPLORE THE WEBSITE

 THE CHALLENGE

Before working together, Genara had just finished a successful run at the New York Theatre Festival, where her original play debuted to several sold out audiences. More than a year later, she didn’t have a central, online presence to showcase her recent works. And her creative practice spans multiple mediums, which made it difficult to present her work cohesively.

Our challenge was immediately clear. Genara didn’t just want a website that read like a resume of her artistic accomplishments. Rather, she wanted an online home that felt like a series of intimate rooms, lavishly furnished with her ideas, curiosities, and desires. 

We needed to create a website that honored the many art forms and Afro-Caribbean lineages Genara conjures in her work, established her as a professional playwright who was ready for future theatre collaborations, and allowed visitors to explore her creative works-in-progress. 

In other words, she needed a site that could function both as an evolving world and a portfolio –  a witness to her past, present, and future selves.

CLARIFYING GENARA’S STORY

We began our work together, first in conversation, over the course of a 2-hour discovery call in which we fleshed out Genara's creative processes and obsessions, her familial stories of migration across the African diaspora, the grief, curiosities, and research that fuel her writings. We talked through the big and little things that move her visually and aesthetically: colors, geographies, ancestors, historical periods, musical and literary references. We mapped out the creative themes in her work and life, as well as her beliefs and values about creativity and art. We even explored what a website means to her, and her hopes for what a website would make possible for her career. 

What unfolded was an opening into the world of Genara's imaginations and longings.

Below I’ve included a selection of the discovery call questions I used to guide our conversation:

NARRATIVE STRATEGY

Drawing from the initial discovery call and Genara’s provided assets (past artist bio copy, inspiration images, websites she loves), I began crafting the site’s creative direction, first in the form of a 1-page Brand Strategy Document/Moodboard that outlined her narrative positioning, the website’s tone of voice, visual identity and visual references. This document guided the structure and storytelling of the site for the entirety of our work together.

Below are some snapshots of Genara’s Brand Strategy Document:

COPY

Before jumping into design and development, I worked with Genara to identify the key copy elements that she wanted included on the site.

Then, a distillation process of the conversations we shared took place, as I translated her creative processes, research interests, family history, and publications into a refined, web-friendly artist bio, mission statement for her newly founded theatre company, and description of her recent theatre production.

The result? Copy that read less like a traditional artist portfolio and more like a long, ancestral poem.

Below is a snapshot of Genera’s homepage copy for her bio:

DESIGNING A SIMPLE PORTFOLIO STRUCTURE

Before building the site, I mapped out the full site architecture by creating wireframes in Milanote for each page. This allowed us to define the structure and user flow early — ensuring that visitors could navigate the artist’s work intuitively.

Key pages included:

  • Homepage with artist statement, biography, publication and theatre production history

  • Plays

  • Poems & Essays blog

  • Contact

Here’s a snapshot of one of the early wireframes we used to outline the beginning structure and function of her PLAYS page:

MOODSTORMING

I developed a visual mood board based on references shared during the discovery phase. The mood board explored potential color palettes, typography, and imagery directions that aligned with the artist’s creative identity.

Red emerged as a dominant color, reflecting the emotional intensity of the work and the vibrancy of Genara’s Caribbean lineage. In addition, visual references to the ocean, tropical landscapes, and the African Atlantic helped ground the site in the artist’s thematic focus on memory, migration, and place.

From here, I welcomed her feedback and we iterated for one more round before landing on what she liked.

This process ensured that both the structure and visual language of the site were intentional and rooted in the artist’s practice before moving into final design and development.

Here’s a snapshot of Genara’s moodboard:

Using the wireframes and mood boards as points of reference, I personally sourced all the final imagery and photography for Genara’s website.

THE WEBSITE BUILD

With the design direction locked in, I built our final designs in Squarespace, tested the site, hooked up the domain name to one of Genara’s choice, and guided her through a handoff session to make sure she felt ready for launch.

The result? Production-ready, responsive website designs for Desktop, Tablet, and Mobile.

The final site included:

  • A professional bio that honored her poetic sensibilities and creative inspirations 

  • A mission statement for her newly founded theatre company

  • An active blog for her published and unpublished poetry and essays (to be updated as new work emerges) 

  • A dedicated Plays page documenting her recent theatrical debut and a professional artist’s statement 

  • A contact page for professional inquiries

  • Mobile-friendly responsive design

THE RESULT

The finished website gives Genara a dedicated digital home for her work — one that extends beyond social media and functions as both a professional portfolio and an immersive introduction to her creative practice.

She now has a centralized platform to:

  • Share with theatre producers, collaborators, and curators

  • Document her recent theatrical debut and future productions

  • Publish and archive her writing in an evolving, accessible format

  • Present her work in a way that reflects both her artistic voice and professional credibility

By translating her creative identity into a cohesive digital experience, the site positions Genara not just as an emerging artist, but as a playwright with a distinct voice, body of work, and long-term artistic vision.

VISIT GENARA'S WEBSITE

WHAT I LEARNED

This project reinforced that effective website design begins long before any visuals are created — it starts with narrative clarity.

By taking the time to deeply understand Genara’s creative practice, influences, and artistic lineage, the structure, copy, and design decisions became much more intentional and cohesive. The discovery and strategy phases were not separate from the design process — they were the foundation that made the final site feel aligned and immersive.

I was also reminded that for artists and mission-driven organizations, a website is not just a portfolio — it is a space for self and organizational definition. When approached thoughtfully, a website can hold complexity, reflect identity, and communicate not just what someone makes, but how and why they make it.

This project strengthened my approach to web design as a form of translation: turning lived experience, creative vision, and abstract ideas into a clear, navigable digital experience.