Branding and Showit Web Design

My design process begins with the creation of 1-2 mood boards to establish your brand’s creative direction. These mood board options are crucial to nailing the overall personality, typography, vibe, and general color palette of your brand.

After the creative direction is set, I will send you a brand identity design presentation that includes one fully developed brand identity design, complete with logos, logo variations, brand marks, a color palette, typography, and brand elements like backgrounds, patterns or textures. We’ll then refine from there until it’s absolutely perfect!

The reason for this approach (it’s called the One Concept Method) is that if the creative direction is established early, I can devote all of my creative brainpower to creating the most strategic, appealing, and effective brand identity in a decisive and detailed way, resulting in a complete brand identity that will strongly resonate with your audience. 

I love working with creative and authentic small business owners across the United States, in industries such as wedding photography, videography, live event painting, therapy, mental health, and other creative disciplines. My dream client list also includes interior designers, florists, craftspeople, event planners, and copywriters. 

I would be happy to assist with this request! I take on a limited number of web-only projects per year. The brand design must be in place already, and designed by a professional designer (logo and variations, color palette, typography), and the web design platform that I use is Showit. If this sounds like a good fit for you, please inquire here. 

The brand design process takes about 5-7 weeks. If you choose brand and web design together, the process takes about 10-12 weeks. However, this can only be an estimation, and the project timeline also depends on other factors like add-ons, timely responses and invoice payments.

To ensure a smooth and efficient experience that produces the best results, I provide a detailed project timeline at the start of every project, for both of us to follow, along with reminders along the way.

I understand that life happens, and you might need a pinch more time for the project pre-work, feedback, or materials. The first time this happens, you will receive a 5-day grace period. If the project materials or feedback have not been provided after 5 days, a 10% delay fee will be applied and the project will be moved to the back of the project queue. If this happens more than once, the project will be paused and a restart fee will be applied. These policies are in place to ensure that we are both committed to making the project a priority throughout its duration. 

Yes! Brand design projects may be split into three monthly payments, and brand/web design projects may be split into three or six monthly payments. The initial, non-refundable deposit will need to be made at the signing of the agreement. If you need payments to be broken up differently, please reach out to discuss a custom payment plan!

I design sophisticated, customized, and completely branded websites in Showit. This drag-and-drop platform is amazing for creative professionals who want a lot of creative freedom, SEO features, a Wordpress blog, and a website that feels truly bespoke. Showit allows for very unique, customized designs, since its interface is similar to graphic design platforms.

Yes, I work closely with Polina of Deeper Than Copy to provide you with seamless integration of website copywriting into the project if this is something you'd like to add (additional costs apply).

If you prefer to write your own website copy, I always provide a customized website copywriting workbook for my clients to complete. In this workbook, I will provide writing prompts for each page and section of your website, and a guide for your website writing, so you won't be left guessing what to write or how. This is a proven and efficient method of gathering website content!

I would highly recommend retaining the services of a local brand photographer for your website photos. There is also the option of sourcing high-quality photos from Editorial Stock Images, Unsplash (free), Social Squares, Pexels (free), or Haute Stock. If needed, I can source stock photos for you for an additional cost, or you can source them yourself - it just depends on your preference. 

My web design packages always include on-page SEO implementation like page titles and descriptions, photo descriptions, and keywords. Showit also provides SEO tools that you can take full advantage of and learn more about here. In addition, I would be happy to send you a short list of trusted SEO strategists if this is something that you would like to invest in further. 

Yes. In order to have a Showit site, you'll need to invest in a monthly or annual Showit plan. You will also need a domain (if you don't already have one). It’s also very wise to invest in purchasing a privacy policy and terms of use for your website footer. I’ll recommend an affordable option that includes both!

And depending on which fonts your brand uses, you may need to purchase a web license to use those specific fonts. This is approached on a case-by-case basis, and does not apply in the case of using Google Fonts.

I will deliver final files in a shared Google Drive folder that include all logo variations, submarks, and brand elements in every color combination and these file formats: .ai, .eps, .svg, .png, and .jpg. I will also provide launch graphics and a brand guidelines document containing the color codes and exact typography selections, so you will be fully equipped and ready to move forward for years to come.

I offer customized video tutorials and links to detailed resources to help you feel comfortable navigating Showit and your new website; I also provide a complimentary two-week period of technical support in which I can help with answering technical questions or giving technical advice right after your website launch.

By the time we finish working together, you will be fully equipped to maintain and update your website by yourself, but if you prefer that I complete the updates, I would be happy to create a custom quote for your desired website updates.