The more formal pages, such as the home page, make use of animated lines that pull the viewer’s attention along the page, like a thread. This mirrors the typical flow of a client in the gallery, when visiting. The attention-grabbing properties of certain pieces, along with a compositional layout of objects in space, dictate the movement of a visitor, creating a subconscious narrative experience of the gallery.
Product pages for more exclusive items are created as a showcase of a model, with its depictions in a lifestyle setting. This design was inspired by technical sheets of art catalogues, which resulted in a clean, succinct enumeration of the work’s background and specifications. Similarly to the client’s experience in-store, the information and display offered is typical of a request for additional explanation about a work that is routinely performed in the gallery.
In order to mirror the effect of browsing a store, a lot of index images listing categories or brands make use of automated sliders. This leads to the viewers ending up on a different item every time they scroll through a particular page, mimicking the selective focus in a real-world setting.
Tertius Collection
Tertius Collection is the interior design branch under the parent brand. Under this logo they sell furniture pieces designed by Antoni Gaudí and Solvador Dalí, unique decorative pieces featuring natural curiosities, and hand-made mirrors by a Dutch contemporary artist. This fine gradient of pieces demands a website that is most representative of browsing an actual store: it must feel unique, accommodating and invoking curiosity in such a way that a visitor might just get mesmerised along his search for the perfect item.
During the years of my work at Tertius Collection, I have designed many pieces of printed matter, such as flags, window displays, artwork information panels, business cards, postcards, etc. To showcase this work, I would like to highlight a design of a packaging for the gallery’s signature room spray. A unique scent, inspired by Hotel Côstes, required a clean label with a luxurious feeling. The elegance of the design is further amplified by the square perfume bottle. The render shown above is not the bottle used in real life.
On overview pages of artists’ work, the uniqueness of particular artwork collections are highlighted by using dynamic backgrounds with symbolic details or words that represent the meaning of a work. Tertius Gallery was always passionate about creating experiences around artworks, placing them in a context in which they can bloom to the fullest. In the gallery on the Amsterdam canals this is achieved by creating an interaction with the objects in the space, but online this effect was recreated by adding such dynamic details. Such details provide additional depth to the work and engage the viewer’s subconscious associations to create new levels of perception.
Another example of a printed work design is a postcard, the drawing for which was provided to us by a neighbour-artist. She was happy to donate this drawing to the gallery to be made into a postcard design, as she was a long-time fan of the charming atmosphere the gallery was creating on the Prinsengracht.
Due to the particular nature of the Dutch Master Paintings trade, there is a certain expectation about the format and the style of presentation. All presented works possess a rich historical background, as well as a detailed provenance, which is often described in lengthy PDFs. Such an information PDF is available for download on each artwork page, allowing the viewers to immerse themselves into the world of Dutch heritage. Such PDFs are also crucial for the process of selling an artwork, which often occurs through a private viewing. During such a viewing, the potential buyer is received in the gallery for a private tour, at the end of which he/she is provided with such a PDF to provide the possibility to further research the worker after the viewing.
Lastly, to make the impression of an artwork more memorable, the most prominent pieces were made into postcards. The design was kept vintage, with minimal information about the artwork provided. Such a classic strategy of turning a piece of heritage into an accessible memorabilia has provided for some heartwarming moments.