In the modern world, the internet is a fundamental tool for practically every profession. For employers, there are many ways to find people with the qualifications and interest to work for their companies, and for those looking for employment, a majority of companies search online for potential candidates, or post their job availability to websites like Indeed or their own personal application website.
For people whose work is creative, the internet is useful for another aspect related to finding jobs - creatives can establish an online presence. They can display examples of their work which can attract employers or clients to get into contact with them. What makes a good online presence, though? What will catch the eyes of potential employers and make them choose you? use the internet to search for potential candidates by putting up job listings on Indeed or their own personal job application websites. Another invaluable use related to the working world, specifically to animators, is the ability to display and market your work online to a wide audience. This can attract the attention of clients or employers and makes it easier for someone to view a full repertoire of your work, so they can gain a fuller understanding of exactly what you could offer to a creative endeavour.
What does it mean to have a ‘good online presence’? How does one effectively put their work out onto the web? How do you establish your identity and separate your work from the rest?
What Is a Good Online Presence?
Kaitlyn Arford, a writer for LocaliQ, defines an online presence as:
“all the public information and content about your business that exists on the internet. That includes your owned online presence (things you’ve intentionally shared) and your earned online presence (things others have posted about your business).”
This means that so long as it is related to the work that you produce, it can be considered as part of your online presence. The work that you post on social media, the accounts you establish on websites like LinkedIn and everything that you put onto a personal website all count towards your online presence.
What’s In A Name?
One of the most important things to understand when starting to build an online presence is having a recognisable brand name. Using the same name and referring to yourself and your work under that name consistently will help employers and clients massively when it comes to knowing what work is yours. This creates a digital footprint that will contain the basis for everything your work is related to and associated with, and establishes a level of professionalism in how you show your work online by having it unrelated to personal social accounts.
Social Media
For artists and animators, putting your work onto a social media account such as X (formerly Twitter) and Bluesky is a good place to start. Tagging your work appropriately can also help, as this makes it easier to find if an interested party were to begin looking through common tags like ‘art’ or more specific ones such as ‘2d animation’. Though it isn’t likely to land you a job on its own, being active and prolific in showing your work and growing your audience can demonstrate good qualities that employers might be looking for. It demonstrates the ability to maintain a consistent stream of content based on how often you post, as well as how you interact with casual viewers of your work.
Dedicated Art Websites
A step-up from social media is putting your work onto a dedicated art site like ArtStation. As opposed to normal social media websites, ArtStation is a space where artists can specifically post and collate their work. Industry professionals still maintain accounts on ArtStation, constantly uploading work from recent projects for others to view and understand their process. It is a simple way to put some of your best work together in one space, and if maintained for long enough, can even demonstrate to potential employers or clients how your work has grown and developed over time.
Your Own Domain
To really get ahead, an important step is to create a website dedicated to your brand. Rodney Laws of Fusion Art writes:
“art is about more than just creating something aesthetically pleasing. It’s also about connecting with people — and if you have a great website, you can communicate with people throughout the world.”
A website is unique in that it is a space collated by you and you alone - you are the one who makes the design decisions, and you can lay out the work however you see fit. It is an opportunity to display the best parts of your work from across your entire portfolio, including things like a demo reel or past projects. You are also allowed to accompany your work with other aspects such as an ‘About Me’ page, informing your viewer as to who you are and what you do. Websites like Wix can provide a free way to create and maintain a website, and there is always the option to expand to your own personal domain.
It’s never too early, or too late, to start collating your work online, but there’s never a better time to start than now. Creating a social media account, uploading your work to places like ArtStation or even making your own website are all steps in the right direction, and every step brings you closer to finding your place in the industry. So what are you waiting for? Get yourself out there!