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Frequently Asked Questions

What does Actor Artist Design do?

Actor Artist Design offers complete web and graphic design services for all performer needs.

We are one of the only services to actually have offices, unlike 99% of other actor design services on the web. Our offices are located at: 142 West 57th St, New York, NY. Please call or email to schedule a free consultation on your actor website, or any other graphic design needs you may have.

Actor Artist Design creates:

Why do I need an actor website? (model website, singer website, musician website)

The option of having a website for self- promotion in the acting industry has passed. In the new age of online-castings, online-submissions, and the convenience a website provides to industry decision-makers it is no longer an option, but a necessity. A well-produced website for an actor, model, musician or other artist will provide 24/7 access to critical materials for agents, managers, and casting directors to review.

Business cards can be misplaced, headshots and resumes are large and difficult to casually pass-along while networking. Headshots also fall out of date easily, as your pictures are updated and your resume grows. Even more critical is your acting reel. Reels on DVD and VHS are dependent on equipment (DVD players, VCR's) and require the agent, manager, or casting director to carry the VHS tape or DVD with them until they can play it.

All of these problems are now solved, and the future of casting, auditioning, and marketing for performers is going to grow exponentially in the online world. There will be new ways for casting directors to screen talent, receive online submissions, and audition performers. This is only the beginning, and having a website is now a requirement for any credible performer to be taken seriously.

Do I have the right materials for Actor Artist Design create my website? (Am I ready?)

Not everyone does. If you have just launched your acting career, or performance career, we will probably tell you it will take some time for your develop your career before we can design a site for you.

Our typical client has several professional headshots, an acting resume with multiple credits, and usually some video material to use as an acting reel.

We offer FREE CONSULTATIONS (888.871.8519) and we would be happy to discuss your current marketability so that we can assess your current status and give you the right recommendation. We are here to help, and if you aren't quite ready for our level of service yet, we will let you know and offer any additional advice we believe is appropriate.

How much should I pay for an acting website?

You need to make sure you are getting an acting website that matches your needs, and your pocketbook. Many actors start out using inexpensive, yet reasonably effective, headshot photographers - and depending on your situation, the same strategy sometimes applies in the choice of website production.

The equivalent of an inexpensive, yet reasonably effective headshot photographer, are website templates for actors. They are extremely prevalent and offer some advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are that you can maintain some of your content, and in some cases you can get your materials on the web almost right away. The disadvantages are that you don't know how many other actors are using the exact same template, and you don't know what customization the website template may offer. Some templates offer very limited customization and the result is a website that looks like a car assembled out of different color parts and pieces. There are so many different companies popping up, it's difficult to know how credible they are and what kind of technical support, if any, that they offer.

For the acting website templates that do offer more customization, unfortunately, they are often complicated to work with and you may end up hiring a designer for you to get the end result you want. Due to popular demand, Actor Artist Design will be offering website templates in 2009 and we have compiled a massive amount of research and planning to make sure our templates will be superior in design and user-friendliness. We will also be offering the templates at an extremely affordable cost. If you email us from our contact form and use the subject line "Free 30 day template" we will put you are on list to receive a free 30-day trial of our actor website templates when they are ready in 2009.

The other option for an acting website, other than a template, is to have someone make a website for you. Some designers claim to build fully custom websites - but what they actually do is purchase a more customizable template (which saves them up to 20 hours of work or more) and they modify it to present it as a new website.

Actor Artist Design provides 100% built-from-scratch actor websites. Our clients are presented with the most original designs, built around their marketing materials and unique appeal. We are also the only service to offer Performer Branding, and to support our clients on all actor marketing materials: actor business cards, actor postcards, and any other print and/or web-related product any performer needs. We are a one-stop shop.

Here is a general guideline for actor website pricing:

Of course, this is just a guideline. Prices will vary based upon how much information you want on your website, how fast you want it, how customized you need it, and who is doing it. We recommend using some common sense, of course, and asking to see as much work as possible from your potential website designer (we have our work online to view, just browse our website). If they do not specialize in actor website design, there will be a greater risk that the site functionality and organization of your website won't be the best possible solution to present your materials online.

Choose the company or person to design your website based upon where you are, currently, in your acting career. It's obvious that if you have only (1) headshot, two credits on your resume, and no acting reel that you need to develop your marketing materials further before Actor Artist Design would be right for you. But if you have a reel, at least (1)-(3) great headshots, and your resume has been growing nicely, it is worth the investment in your career to create a powerful branded image of yourself in all of your marketing materials. The end result? Being remembered.

What is Performer Branding?

Actor Artist Design is the only company with the experience and skills necessary to offer Performer Branding.

Performer Branding gives you the following advantages:

Branding, as applied to major companies establishing themselves in competitive markets, means that all marketing materials for a particular company have a creative similarity 'across the board' (business cards, website, postcards, etc). By establishing a unique, strong, and creative design around a company - they are more visible, easier to remember, and always maximize the use of their marketing materials.

In the entertainment industry, performers are the product. It is you, and you are marketing your product. Everyday you submit to casting directors, agents, managers, and independent film directors. They are your potential employers, and being remembered when you cross their desk or come up on their computer can easily be the difference between getting an opportunity, and being forgotten.

Therefore, Actor Artist Design has taken years of experience in designing actor websites, working with celebrity clientele, and working with major brands and created the only premium service for rising performers: Performer Branding. While we do offer other levels of service, and packaging, Performer Branding is the strongest packaging of a performers assets available anywhere in the industry.

We take your headshots, portfolio, reel, resume, and unique appeal and package it with a consistent 'look and feel' across all of your marketing materials to maximize your potential to be remembered (positively of course!) by those that receive your materials. Contact us today for your free consultation.