Tempted to design your own website? Many artists do – mostly to save money. But have you really thought through the total cost?

Here are some questions to consider before you start designing:

• Do you have visual design skills/training? Understanding how the use of space, fonts, color, and images work together to promote a piece of art uses quite a different skill set to actually creating the art
• Can you wait months for the site to be ready? Most self-designed websites end up taking several months to develop.
• Can you afford to give up a month or more of your valuable artist time? Think what else you could put that time towards? How many paintings and what value could you create in a month?
• Do you have all the computer software and the relatively-new computer needed to build a high-quality website? You can buy cheap packages but you might get a cheap result!
• Are you fully trained in your design software? How much time will it take you to get up to speed?

The point we are making is to think about the actual cost of developing your own site. Your time as an artist is valuable. Are you an artist or a designer or both?

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