How I Became a Brand & Web Showit Designer for Creatives

If you’ve been wondering why you should work with a Showit designer (or maybe you want to become a Showit website designer yourself!) –

I’m Rose Benedict, a Brand Identity & Showit Design Partner for creatives!

I specialize in earthy & artisanal designs for therapists, artists, photographers, wedding professionals, private practice owners, and other service providers.

My journey in design started in 2011 with a sketchbook full of doodles and dreams, and I’ve been running my design studio full-time since 2021. Here’s everything you need to know about my story as a Showit web designer – along with a few tips for creatives!

Falling in Love with Design

My path to design wasn’t exactly a straight line.

In 2013, I graduated with an English degree and landed roles in marketing departments – first at Ohio State University, then at a Fortune 20 company. But something was missing. The creative itch wouldn’t go away, so in 2015, I made a bold move: I went back to school for graphic design.

My first website project was my own portfolio in 2015. Looking back at it now makes me smile – we all start somewhere, right?

Design school threw me into the deep end. I spent countless hours wrestling with HTML and CSS, building everything from scratch. At first, I thought web design wasn’t for me because of all the coding. It turns out that my professor was just wonderfully old-school in hand-coding literally everything!

The real turning point came after design school.

I kept my day job to tackle student loans, but I started taking on freelance projects, and the freedom of crafting brands and websites on my own terms felt so natural and amazing.

Growing My Creative Business

Taking my creative design business full-time in 2021 taught me an important lesson that I now share with every client: clarifying your strategy and offerings needs to come before designing your visual identity (and new website!).

In the early days, my own brand presence was still finding its footing, and I experimented with many different platforms and project types.

I designed for and worked in Squarespace, WordPress, Wix – you name it, I’ve done it. I also worked with many different types of clients, trying to figure out what kind of work I enjoyed the most.

But everything changed when I moved my own website to Showit in January 2022. The platform’s creative freedom resonated deeply with my design approach, and I knew I’d found my sweet spot!

So, I dove headfirst into mastering every aspect of Showit. I studied its intricacies and learned everything I could about how it worked so that I could offer my clients the very best of what I’d discovered for myself.

I also continued to refine my target audience, finally landing on creatives & service providers, such as therapists, artists, photographers, copywriters, wedding professionals, professional dancers, landscape designers, and other creative industries.

Once I found my niche and target audience, I was able to improve the design experience and sign more clients!

Narrowing down my focus to do the type of work I truly enjoyed was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made for my business.

Here are more tips for creative entrepreneurs!

Finding My Signature Showit Design Style

Through collaborations with my creative clients, I developed & refined my signature design style: earthy and artisanal, with a balance of refined sophistication and genuine warmth. I like to think about my design services as thoughtfully handcrafted, much like an artisan’s workshop.

I continued to build my expertise as a Showit website designer for creatives, and in January 2024, I became a Showit Design Partner!

The Showit Design Partner Program is a form of recognition from Showit that represents proven expertise and dedication to client success. To earn this designation, I had to pass a rigorous skills test and maintain consistently high standards in both design and client service.

Owning my own business and being able to create designs for amazing creatives all over the world has been incredibly rewarding. And, of course, I’m constantly refining my skills and pushing myself to become the best Showit designer I can be.

You can see past projects on my Portfolio Page or, if you’re a creative who needs branding & a new site, learn more about my Services!

My Approach to Custom Website & Brand Design

When working with clients, my main goal is to create a visual identity and website that speak directly to your audience’s needs AND embody your unique presence.

My design style naturally has an earthy, refined feel to it. But each brand I create stands on its own because your unique story shapes every design decision we make.

Here’s how I approach each project:

• Deep Creative Industry Knowledge: Years of working with therapists, artists, and photographers have taught me what actually matters in these spaces. I understand the specific needs of each field – like making sure therapist websites are HIPAA compliant or creating portfolio layouts that showcase a photographer’s work in the best light.
• Earthy & Artisanal Aesthetic: My designs feel both grounded and sophisticated, blending organic textures with refined details. Of course, all of the designs end up looking different, but this is what I naturally lean towards.
• High-End & Handcrafted: Many of my clients come to me when they’re ready to start attracting higher-quality clients while keeping that genuine connection with their audience.
• SEO Integrations: Your beautiful website should also be discoverable, especially for creatives like photographers and therapists! I weave in SEO best practices throughout your site, helping you show up in Google searches when potential clients are looking for services like yours.
• Personalized: For custom Showit website designs, I always start from scratch, and some brand identity designs even have hand-drawn elements. I also offer a Showit template customization service like I did for The Relatable Therapist.

Take a look at these 10 brand identity examples for Creatives.

Showit Website Design Examples

Barefoot Royal Photography

Christine, the creative mind behind Barefoot Royalty Photography is a couple, elopement, and wedding photographer who captures heirloom photos of the romantic and madly in love.

I designed her custom brand and Showit website to convey a high-end, romantic, and coastal-inspired look to connect with her target audience and highlight her gorgeous photography work.

Fuerst Paints

Steph at Fuerst Paints is a live wedding painter in Detroit, Michigan. She serves as a witness to her clients’ wedding celebrations and creates high-quality, unique keepsakes for them to cherish for the rest of their lives together.

Steph wanted her brand identity & Showit website to attract more clients and express who she is as an artist, so I created designs that aligned with her brand adjectives, such as warm, welcoming, and thoughtful.

The Vibrant Tapestry

Renee from The Vibrant Tapestry is an online therapist for aging adults in Washington state. She helps her clients honor the unique stories, perspectives, and complexities that come with growing older.

She wanted her website & branding to feel warm and accepting while being easy to navigate. Her website is nurturing, peaceful, and intuitive with a clean flow.

Devin Tormey Art

Devin Tormey is a live wedding painter who works with couples in Boston, New England, and all over the United States.

Her brand needed to grow in a more high-end direction and connect better with her sophisticated client base, so that’s exactly what I focused her brand identity & Showit website design on! The end result is earthy, dreamy, and a little adventurous – just like Devin herself!

Sequoia Therapy Group

Sequoia Therapy Group is a private practice in Columbus, Ohio that works with individuals, couples, and families, from mothers experiencing perinatal challenges to first responders dealing with pressures from their jobs.

I created their custom brand & Showit website to be deeply rooted in the symbolism of the strength and resilience of the Sequoia tree. It also has a renewed focus on SEO and a HIPAA-compliant contact form using Google Workspace.

Why Showit?

After designing on multiple platforms over the years, I chose Showit as my exclusive design platform and haven’t looked back!

With Showit, you get the creative freedom to build truly custom websites – the kind usually only possible with WordPress – but without the technical headaches that come with managing plugins, updates, and constant maintenance.

I also loved seeing how empowered my clients felt after their websites launched. They could easily update their content without the fear of breaking their site or needing to call a developer. Plus, the Showit team is very responsive if you ever have any questions!

This independence, combined with unlimited design possibilities, makes Showit the perfect platform for creative and service-based businesses who want their website to be both beautiful and practical.

Tips from a Showit Designer

Here are a few things I learned as a Showit branding and website designer from building my own business as well as working with many creatives.

• Refine Your Target Audience & Offers: A beautiful website only works if it speaks to the right people. Take the time to clearly define who you serve and what specific solutions you provide, because, as they say, riches are in the niches!
• Invest in High-Quality Branding: Your brand is the foundation of your entire online presence. It helps you stand out in your industry and express your unique brand personality on a visual level.
• Make SEO a Priority: Especially for creative businesses with local focuses, such as photographers and therapists, starting to show up on Google search can be game-changing. Showit is actually one of the best website builders for SEO!
• Work with a Showit Design Partner: Showit Design Partners (like me! 👋) have to pass rigorous testing and prove their creativity and design standards.
• Pay Attention to Mobile Design: One of Showit’s strengths is the ability to create custom mobile layouts. Always preview both desktop and mobile versions of each page before publishing. What works on desktop might need adjustments on mobile!

If you want to try Showit, you can use my Showit Design Partner referral link to get one month of Showit free! You can also use this Showit Getting Started Guide.

FAQs

Do You Have Any Advice for Freelancers Who Want to Become a Showit Designer?

My biggest piece of advice would be to find your unique design style and target audience instead of trying to be everything for everyone. When I embraced my earthy, artisanal design style and specifically focused on working with creative service providers, I started attracting excited clients who wanted to work with me because of my unique perspective! It made marketing my business much more simple and effective.

What Are the Downsides of Showit?

Showit is my platform of choice, but I believe that it’s important to be transparent about its potential limitations. It’s typically not ideal for massive online stores, although there are some possible e-commerce integrations that I can create using Shopify or WooCommerce. If you’re a creative selling templates or running a product shop like my client Rachel Vaught Art, then Showit integrations with Shopify Starter, ThriveCart, or WooCommerce should be enough for you. But if you’re a huge e-commerce store and that’s the main functionality you’re looking for, you might want to explore a different platform.

Does Showit Have Good SEO?

Yes! Showit is amazing when it comes to SEO. The platform makes it super easy to optimize important elements like your title tags, meta descriptions, and alt text. Showit also collaborates with WordPress for blogging, which gives you an SEO boost. I’ve seen quite a few clients achieve strong search rankings with their Showit sites. 

However, if you’re in a super competitive industry or have more advanced SEO goals, I’d recommend supplementing this work with the services of an SEO specialist. Reach out for recommendations! 

Do You Create Showit Templates?

Not at this time, but it’s a goal for the future! Currently, I’m focused on custom design work. Templates can work as an early starting point for some creatives, but my passion lies in creating unique, tailored websites that align with your specific brand and goals. That said, I do offer template customization services if you already have a Showit template you’d like to modify!

Hire a Creative Showit Designer to Craft Your Earthy & Artisanal Brand

So, that’s my story, approach, and work processes as a Showit designer for creatives!

If you’ve reached a point in your business where your branding and website need a makeover to reflect your expertise, I’d be more than happy to help.

Check out my Portfolio and Design Services to get started!