Jean Compton deals in folk art, Americana, and antique rags dolls and toys, and she needed a website that would show off the items she finds.

For each item, she wanted to be able to show a few views, along with a description. We worked with her to create a design and color palette for the site that would best complement a wide range of images. Working together, we also discovered the best types of photos.

Because Jean is a wonderful writer and able to share charming stories on the items she finds, we encouraged her to add a blog to the site as well. This has become a key attraction of the site: The stories keep the site fresh, and she can use the posts to talk about items that she has recently found, already sold, or simply felt to be of extra interest. Through her writing, visitors get a sense of her lively personality, which makes them that much more excited to seek her out at antique shows and fairs.

The gallery of the site uses the open source Gallery2 system, and the blog is in WordPress.

Check out the site, especially Jean’s blog and the beautiful photos in the galleries, at www.jcomptongallery.com.