TK Photography

A Clean, Responsive Website

Helping out a Friend

I designed a clean, responsive portfolio website for a local photographer to help him showcase his work and attract new clients online. Working with a limited budget and a small set of brand assets, I focused on clarity, storytelling, and layout — building a design that highlighted imagery over interface. After competitive benchmarking and several design iterations, the final site balanced personal presentation with easy navigation, empowering a small business owner to grow his audience and build trust with potential clients.

Color Exploration

“Starting with his original color palette, I refined the tones to create a professional yet artistic system that aligned with the mood of his photography. The hybrid palette improved contrast, consistency, and visual storytelling across the site.”

Problem

Many small businesses struggle to establish an online presence due to limited design experience and tight budgets. My friend Thomas Kane needed a clean, accessible portfolio website that reflected the quality of his photography and helped attract new clients.

Key issues included:

No cohesive brand identity
Overly bright colors reducing professionalism
Lack of layout hierarchy
No gallery organization
Inconsistent imagery sizes

Process

Research

Reviewed other photography portfolios to study layout, hierarchy, and tone.
Studied UX best practices for image-heavy websites.
Conducted competitive benchmarking with portfolio sites using minimal color and clean structure.
Explored typography that would support—not overpower—visual storytelling.

Design

Refined his original color palette to create a more cohesive, professional look.
Designed wireframes focusing on simplicity and image-first presentation.
Prioritized responsive behavior to ensure mobile usability.
Created multiple layout concepts in Figma and narrowed them based on clarity, mood, and storytelling.

Prototype

Built low- and mid-fidelity mockups in Figma.
Tested different gallery configurations (grid, masonry, carousel) to determine the most intuitive format.

Implementation

Designed the final UI emphasizing clean spacing, large hero imagery, and a balanced gallery layout.
Exported assets and organized imagery for optimal load speed.
Prepared the site structure for easy maintenance and future updates.

Solution

“The final design elevates TK Photography’s brand by focusing on clarity, consistency, and image-driven storytelling.”

I created a clean, user-friendly photography portfolio that highlighted TK’s work and helped him attract new clients. My goal was to emphasize his visual impact while maintaining simplicity — letting the work speak for itself.

The final solution included:

A refined color palette for improved consistency and professionalism
A responsive layout featuring large-format imagery
A simplified navigation system focused on clarity and easy browsing
A structured gallery using consistent image ratios
A homepage hero section that establishes tone and showcases his strongest images
Typography that supports visual storytelling without distraction

Results

The final layout improved TK’s presentation clarity and professionalism.
The gallery structure helped visitors navigate his work more easily.
The updated palette strengthened his brand identity.
TK reported increased confidence when sharing his site with potential clients.

Reflection

"This project taught me the value of designing for visual storytellers — sometimes the best UX is invisible, letting the content speak for itself. I also gained experience balancing limited resources with professional-quality design outcomes, helping a small business owner strengthen his online identity.
This project also strengthened my ability to translate a client’s personality into a cohesive visual identity, helping bridge the gap between artistic vision and user-centered design."