ishmael Zouitni
Project overview
Ishmael, a Rotterdam-based photographer, relied mainly on Instagram to share his work. This created clear limitations: photos were compressed, guests frequently asked where they could find and download their event images, and sending high-quality files manually cost him significant time. He needed a portfolio website that:
Highlighted his photography skill, allowed guests to browse and download photo's and able to upload and update his content on his website.
Client discovery
In our first conversation, I asked Ishmael a few questions to understand his needs:
- How do you want people to experience your work online?
“I just want the photos to speak for themselves, make it accessible to see my work.” - What’s missing from Instagram for you?
“The quality drops too much. People DM'ing me and asking where to download or get the images. It takes too much time for me to do all the process.” - What do people ask you most often after an event?
“Where can I find my pictures? Can you send them to me?”
Problem
Ishmael’s photography wasn’t being shown in full quality, guests couldn’t easily access their photos, and his workflow was slowed down by manual sharing. Therefore, the site needed to:
Keep photos in full quality
Give customers one central place to download their images
Manage his own content on his website
Showcase his work in a professional way outside Instagram
Inspirations & Direction
Ishmael’s wish for his photos to “speak for themselves” guided the design toward a minimal, dark theme where images became the focus. For inspiration, I reviewed award-winning portfolios on Awwwards to explore subtle animation and layout patterns.
Wireframing
I set up quick wireframes in Figma to experiment with layouts, photo grids, and simple interactions. Ishmael reviewed them and gave feedback, which helped me settle on a straightforward flow: Homepage, Work (albums), and About/Contact.
Look & feel
I designed a black-and-white layout to let Ishmael’s photos “speak for themselves.” Subtle transitions and hover effects were added to guide users smoothly through the site and make browsing more engaging without pulling attention away from the photography.
Accessibility
By default, I ensure every website is accessible, with proper color contrast, a minimum text size of 16px, and full keyboard navigation.
CMS
I implemented Statamic with custom fields for albums, About info, and featured images. This gives him freedom to add his own content without any help.
Impact
- Full control of content with no ongoing support needed
- Hours saved per event by cutting out manual photo sharing
- A stronger professional presence outside social media
- Confidence using the CMS after only one or two tries
- Browse and download albums directly, no more through WeTransfer
- Mobile-friendly experience for Instagram users
- High-resolution quality of the images
Takeaways
The hardest part of this project was balancing photo quality with performance. At first, large files made the site slow, but compressing them too much didn’t do justice to Ishmael’s work. The real solution was educating him on resizing images before uploading. That small shift not only improved performance but also gave him more control over how his photos appeared online.
Another big win was the CMS choice. Statamic turned out to be lightweight and flexible, but most importantly, Ishmael picked it up quickly. Seeing him upload albums on his own after just a couple of tries was a reminder for me: the best tools are the ones that keep working for clients long after the handover.