In early 2010 Merv Appleton, a New Zealand Artist launched his first website mervappleton.com to provide an avenue to promote his art. His website has directly lead to being chosen for an overseas exhibition, local media coverage and a story on the TV3 News.
Merv Appleton is a New Zealand artist based in Bucklands Beach who uses acrylics and oils to create his art, in particular stunning landscapes.
WebMadeSimple worked with Merv to create his website. The focus was two-fold. Merv wanted a design that would complement his art and also wanted to ensure that managing the website content was simple. The solution needed to be easy to use and allow Merv to upload and manage his art on the website.
The foundation of Merv’s website is the Artists Module that has been built to allow artists to upload images of their art and to include information such as Medium, Media, Size, Frame, Price and whether the piece has been sold. Each of these fields and layout can be customised to meet the specific needs of the artist.
Merv’s website also features a News Module which can also be used as a Blog. This module can be designed to profile recent entries on the Home page of the website and can also be linked to a Facebook account to feed news/blog entries to the Facebook account automatically.
So how did Merv get from launching his website to TV3?
Within a week of Merv launching his website he learnt of the opportunity to be part of an exhibition in Italy being organised by Kiwi artist Kay de Lautour Scott, who lives in Italy, and Aucklander Sophia Elise, manager of the New Zealand Art Guild, to honour those who fought at Monte Cassino.
Merv’s ability to showcase his art through the website was a huge factor in him being selected to be part of the exhibition at which he is exhibiting 3 pieces.
For Merv is has been a huge honour and a major turning point in his career as an artist and he is so thrilled that his website has lead to this opportunity.
His participation resulted in a story “To honour memories” in the Howick and Pakuranga Times on 22 April 2010 and then a piece on the TV3 News “Anzac story leads to special work of art”.
The WebMadeSimple Artist Websites cost $1400 plus GST.
If you would like to know more about the WebMadeSimple Artist Websites check out WebMadeSimple Website or contact Sarah either by email or by calling 09 950 3385.