Eyesbound: A Minimalist Portfolio Website Showcasing the Power of Photography

A Clean and Simple Design by Julia Hell

The main inspiration for the Eyesbound design came from the photographer's imagery itself. Julia Hell, the designer, was drawn to the photographer's focus on architecture and nature motifs, which were captured from a unique point of view. In preparation for the design, Hell also studied several portfolio websites to understand best practices in the industry. She noticed that often the information about the photographer overshadowed the images, and she wanted to change that. Thus, she decided to make the images the key element of the design.

What sets the Eyesbound portfolio website apart is its emphasis on the strong imagery of the photographer. The design achieves this by utilizing full-screen images as the main detail, allowing viewers to fully immerse themselves in the photographs. The navigation elements are intentionally kept simple and can be hidden, ensuring that the images are never covered. The typographic logo also scales down and transparentizes in full-screen mode, further directing the focus towards the photography. To maintain the emphasis on the images, the design employs a minimalist color palette of black and white.

The Eyesbound portfolio website was created using Adobe Photoshop for the design phase, and the realization tools included Drupal 7, CSS 3, HTML 5, and jQuery. The resulting web page is fully responsive, ensuring that the imagery is displayed optimally across different devices and screen sizes. Supported browsers also offer a fullscreen mode, enhancing the immersive experience for viewers.

Operating the Eyesbound website is intuitive and user-friendly. Visitors can navigate through the portfolio using either a mouse or keyboard, with arrow keys providing a seamless browsing experience. The navigation structure is intentionally kept simple, with a focus on flat flow and maintaining user interest.

The Eyesbound project was initiated in May 2014 in Berlin and went live in August 2014. Since then, minor iterations have been made to continuously improve the user experience. Throughout the design process, Julia Hell conducted extensive research by exploring various photographers' portfolio websites, analyzing their design and layout choices. This research helped her identify the need for a fullscreen option and inspired her to prioritize the photography as the main product of the website.

Despite its success, the Eyesbound design faced its fair share of challenges. One of the main obstacles was finding a way to display photography online in a new and unseen way. The decision to incorporate fullscreen mode added a technical complexity, especially in ensuring compatibility across different browsers. Older browsers, unfortunately, do not support the fullscreen mode.

The design of the Eyesbound portfolio website is clean, simple, and elegant. By minimizing the usage of navigation and menu elements, the focus remains on the captivating photographs. The menu is thoughtfully organized by categories and series, allowing users to explore the portfolio effortlessly. On the image detail pages, viewers can find additional meta information about each shot. From the logo to the backgrounds and typography, the color palette is intentionally limited to black and white, ensuring that the emphasis remains on the photography.

The Eyesbound portfolio website, designed by Julia Hell, has received widespread acclaim and recognition. In 2016, it was awarded the Silver A' Design Award in the Website and Web Design category. This prestigious award is a testament to the design's outstanding expertise, innovation, and remarkable level of excellence. The Eyesbound design has successfully created a platform that showcases the power of photography and leaves viewers in awe and wonder.