Design Blog
Tips, tutorials and design trends.
If you’re looking for some info on our branding process, or what to expect when updating your own custom WordPress website, or just some basic technical info, we’ve put some of the most frequently asked questions below. For more in-depth and specific info, or to set up a free consultation, get in touch through our contact form. Many clients who have already had us create a customized brand and website for them will find these tutorials helpful as they’re settling into their new site, and want to take care of certain updates and maintenance themselves. Please reach out if there’s a question here that isn’t covered below.
What we talk about in the initial consultation
If you are interested in our branding or website design services, please contact us and give us a bit of background information about your project. After we review the preliminary details, we will ask you to schedule a 30 minute phone call with us where we can answer any questions that you have about working together. Many clients come to us without much knowledge or ever having worked with a designer or developer before, and we are happy to walk you through the process and to show different examples and offer options. read more…
The emotional impact of color
Although I have a lot of black in my wardrobe, I love color, and am very inspired by it. I’ll often just see a random combination of vegetables on a stand at the farmer’s market, interior design in the background of a movie, or editorial pages on Pinterest, and I’ll snap a photo or take a screenshot for later reference. When designing for a client, if they have a favorite color, or combination, then I’ll use that as a starting point if possible, and often when there is a professional photo to be used, that will set the tone for the rest of the look and a complimentary or contrasting color scheme to be used throughout. read more…
Woo (Hoo!) Commerce
People have been asking us for years if we create ecommerce websites, and now finally… we do! (I mean… John does.) A WooCommerce shopping cart is made to integrate with WordPress and is a great way to sell your products. This is a free open-source plugin which allows us to access and customize the code to your specific needs. As with any other website, You’ll need a domain and an SSL certificate, then we can install WordPress and the WooCommerce plugin and add your products. read more…
Tools of the trade
There are so many different elements and ideas that go into creating a professional brand for a client. It may seem easy to say “Green is my favorite color” or “I like sans serif fonts” or “I have a logo and a headshot” but how do these puzzle pieces all work together to create an overall message that a client really identifies with and captures what they’d like to convey to the world? read more…
Instagram changes
You’ve probably noticed (or maybe you haven’t) that Instagram has changed their format of the square 1:1 ratio, 1080 x 1080 pixel photo grid to 4:5 ratio, 1080 x 1350 pixel rectangles. The change can be seen on your main feed and your profile on the app so far, but on desktop, my profile still shows squares, for now. The format is taller and better aligned for mobile devices, and matches the sizing of reels and stories. Many people are very angry that their carefully cropped and perfected square grid doesn’t fit the new dimensions.
Minimalism to the max
The other night, I was having dinner with my aunt and a few cousins at my mom’s house. Afterwards, we were looking for a movie to watch and as my mom was scrolling, she said “How about Basic Instinct?” I said, “Are you sure?” She thought it was the one with the rabbit, but we all watched it anyway, and we got past the racy scenes by joking through them. One thing that I really noticed though, is that all of Sharon Stone’s clothing was the “quiet luxury” trend that’s been everywhere for the past few years. Except that they didn’t really call it that in 1992. I think maybe they just called it minimalism. read more…
Adding 2-factor authentication to your web host
Of course we’re all very familiar with 2-factor authentication and the need to put it on all of our accounts, from banking to shopping, to your website hosting or domain name accounts. We highly encourage everyone to do so to keep things safe and secure. However, it does add another level of difficulty to our jobs, and we are now making it mandatory that we are put on as an admin on every account we’re working with. read more…
The strategy behind branding for your business
This is one of the main things discussed in the initial consultation and we talk about the branding strategy in order to get a clear picture of exactly what you want and would like to convey before an estimate is written up. Most custom brand creation and the building of the website takes an average of 4 to 6 weeks.
The price of a professional brand or a website
The price varies depending on the project size and scope of what is needed. Some clients may need branding only, which includes the logo, and overall look and style guide for the business, starting at $1500. Others may need website design and development, which averages around $2000 and may go down or up, depending on what additional features or content will need to be built into it. Our prices are reasonable no matter what the project size and many people find custom branding and design to be a very worthwhile investment for the professionalism of their business.
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Updating your WordPress content and understanding the Divi theme
Once your WordPress site is completed, you have the freedom to update your site yourself, if you would like to. If the home page is animated or highly customized you probably wouldn’t be able to update it yourself without our assistance, but you will be able to log in and add content to the pages or add blog posts and share them on social media yourself. For those that are comfortable with technology, you may find that the website builder that we use is very user friendly. read more…
Keep your site secure by doing general WordPress maintenance
Once your site is created, it’s really important to keep your WordPress software, theme, and plugins up to date. It’s very easy and should only take a few minutes, but by doing so, it improves speed and performance of your website and also assists with security and preventing hackers from easily finding your site through outdated software. There are a few different ways to do this, one being through the WordPress Installatron or Softaculous inside of your hosting account, and the other is right in the WordPress dashboard. In either case, there will be very clear notifications that updates are available. read more…
Branding is an essential part of your business
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize how important visual aesthetics and packaging is. A walk down any supermarket aisle will have any number of brands competing for trust, attention and recognition. Big companies invest a lot of money in advertising and brand loyalty is the reason why some people will pay thousands of dollars for a handbag. Having a style of our own makes us feel good about ourselves, and allows us to express our individuality rather than being like everyone else. read more…
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