What are the principles of art?

What are the the most important principles one should consider when sharing creative work, such as writing or art, online?

• I'm thinking specifically about qualities one should consider of both the medium the art was created in and the medium of distribution-- so as to make the experience the most positive for the user.

• Answer:

  When choosing the original medium, consider how it will be transferred into digital format. Scanning a piece would be ideal, but this may be difficult for larger pieces. Taking pictures may cause the loss of color intensity and dull the effect of texture. You may need to take extra photos to capture important details. When you're trying to display creative work, make sure it's easy on the eyes. The work can speak for itself, so give it lots of space to dominate attention. For writing, it's important to consider how easy it is to read. Take into account not just font and colors, but if other elements on the page distract from or crowd the work. The same basic treatment applies to art as well. You should be able to see the piece in it's entirety without having to scroll about to see details. For navigation, use large thumbnails so the user has a good idea of what they're going to see. Smaller icons that don't adequately represent the art may cause users to skim over the best pieces.