EXPLORE the blog

Running an online business? You’re likely going to need to create a banner at some point to advertise a program, class, event or to promote a product offering. The images below were recently created for one of my clients to promote a teleclass. This tutorial highlights the different aspects I had to consider when designing […]

I often work with a lot of clients who need to show schedules, rates or options on their website. For ease of readability and maintenance, I like to place this data into a table. My favorite way to do this in WordPress is to use a great free plugin named TablePress. The flexibility of this […]

How your users can contact to you is of utmost importance. It amazes me every day the number of sites that make it just plain hard to contact the business! I’ve talked before about how location based businesses need to easily show their location in standard locations (upper right hand of site and footer) – […]

Do you really need a logo? Over the years I’ve worked with a lot of different types of businesses at various stages of their development. Typically when you’re just starting out (and especially if you run a digital/online business), I recommend NOT going through a logo design process. The budgets allocated for logos are often […]

Recently one of my oldest friends came to me and told me he was starting over from scratch – now in his mid 30s he was setting out in a brand new career as a entrepreneur in the healing arts — and he needed my help. A very successful designer for over a decade, years […]

Click here to get the guide The call came late at night. My friend was in the middle of her biggest product launch yet and her site had suddenly gone off-line. Panicked, she didn’t know what to do and was going to potentially lose thousands of dollars. Her former web developer was no longer available […]

The web is a living thing – always changing and evolving. I often tell my clients that nothing is “set it and forget it” – you should always be reviewing and evaluating what’s working or isn’t working for you and your users. Standards and technologies change rapidly and a site you created more than a […]

I get serious digital cravings – instead of reaching for a cookie, Facebook, Twitter and blogs can easily serve as my sugar fix during the day. It’s just so easy to get sucked in and then your whole day can go by with nothing of note accomplished. (I’m particularly looking at you, Reddit). I found […]

Every time you sign up for a new product, service or online personality, you’re likely to get some form of email response. We talk a lot about engagement, conversion and open rates – but few people address usability & functionality. I love to be inspired by great design — but there are a few things […]

I look at a LOT of websites from all over the world – and there’s one mistake I see over and over again that’s easily fixed. I was recently in the mood to try a new fitness class at a local studio I’ve never been to. I’d heard of them, but google didn’t display any […]

Ah, money. This is one place people don’t feel comfortable talking about when working with designers. I’ve worked on everything from multi-million dollar projects to bootstrapping non-profits and after almost 12 years in business (and hundreds of sites later) I’ve learned when to save and when to spend. It may sound counter-intuitive coming from a […]

I often get emails from prospective clients who say they don’t need a new website since they already have one — they just need a facelift. Unfortunately, when you look under the hood of a site, there can be so many issues that it often makes more sense to start from scratch. Especially if that […]

Design. Thought. Intention. Theory. Practice. It all matters and it makes you stand out as a designer and as a business. Create your own style & materials and you will be rewarded. Show your integrity and your creativity instead of straight up copying who you think is successful. There’s a huge difference between inspiration and […]

It’s a tale of the modern age – running our businesses, we’ve given all-access pass to our online identities to an assistant, employee or friend– our facebook page, website, twitter feed. But what happens when a relationship goes sour? I’ve had more clients than I care to count have their sites removed, email hacked and […]