If you’re reading this you can obviously see that my website is brand spankin’ new. I said buh-bye to the pastels and watercolor and hello to punchy, bold colors and lots of whimsy!

Through a questionnaire at the start of our working relationship, my designer (Kristen Ashton of Still Pixels) gained so much information from me – everything from how I see myself to the types of people I want to work with. She used all of the information I threw at her to create my branding and website(s) from scratch. Read on to find out what Kristen and I used for inspiration.

Brand voice

Joyful • Happy • Funny •  Quirky • Youthful • Colorful • Honest • Friendly •  Bespoke • Creative • Laid back • Non-boring • Creator/Maker • Clean • Unscripted • Unconventional • Real life • Full of personality

These are a few of the keywords Kristen worked off of to design my site. These words describe not only how I see myself, but also describe the type of work I want to produce, and the people I want to work with.

Ideal clients

I’d argue that so many of my clients have been amazing people: even my old website did a great job of attracting the sort of people who appreciate my non-intrusive nature and laid back vibe on their wedding day, as well as the colorful, clean, and true-to-life images I typically take for both weddings and brand shoots.

But part of the design process is really narrowing in on those ideal clients – the ones I picture when I write these blog posts or type the copy for my website. Here are a few of the criteria I came up with for both couples and brand clients:

• They’re the kind of couples who high-five when something good happens, but behind closed doors are snuggly and have goofy little quirks together, like booping each other on the nose.
• Due to my pop-culture references, they’re probably in their late 20s – 40s.
• Same-gender, different genders, gender-fluid: anything goes in my book. Love is love, and people are awesome.
• They consider themselves true life partners and believe in getting married because they can’t imagine life without the other person by their side.
• One or both of them are makers – by profession or hobby – they might knit, sew, draw or dabble in calligraphy, letterpress, or woodworking. Either way, they’re the kind of people who have hobbies outside of work.
• The couples aren’t “OMG Rosé all day!” people – they enjoy a nice glass of wine (even a rosé on a nice warm day), but prefer a good prohibition-era cocktail or craft beer over anything too sweet or sugary. Even better if they appreciate a good Scotch whisky or rye.
• If they subscribe to magazines, it’s more likely to be a travel magazine rather than Cosmo.
• They have/love dogs. Bonus points if dogs are included in wedding day festivities.
• They’ll show up for a photo shoot prepared for anything and are willing to wade through a stream or take a little hike.
• They can appreciate a little bit of appropriately-placed swearing.

Of course, I love working with all kinds of people. Sometimes I have a bride who does love Cosmo – both the magazine and the drink, or a client who is in their 50s or 60s and has no idea what Prestige Worldwide is. I welcome anyone who can put up with my awkward self for more than an hour! But at heart, I wanted my brand to appeal to myself, and that’s basically who I’ve described above.

Color palette

It took a couple rounds of revisions to nail down the color palette, but when Kristen came up with this one I knew we had it. A mix of my favorite colors in a palette that could work with weddings and brand photos. This palette also plays off of my love of the ocean (my happy place) and my love of pink, but not super girly pink.

Logos and brand images

Finally, we have the logos and brand images. As soon as I saw the lettering on the two brand name logos, I was in love. She also made use of brush strokes which brings in that whole ‘maker’ vibe quite nicely. I knew I wanted to have some sort of painted or hand-drawn element without it being the very trendy watercolor or brush lettering look, and I think she did a fab job at that. The use of icons also pulls in that whimsical element that will attract the fun types.

All in all, I’m over the moon with the final design! When I shared the site on my personal Facebook the night before the launch, everyone commented that it’s so me, and that it’s such a great representation of my personality. That is all I needed to hear (read?) to know that this was the right move for myself and my brand.