I am so excited to share the result from months of creative brainstorming that went into this soon-to-be masterpiece.
I worked closely with blog design guru, Aubrey from The Kinch Life blog to develop this new design. Aubrey's insight into blog design helped create a brand new and much cleaner look for The Boisebombshell blog. Aubrey was a huge contributor to the creative process and the only one of us with the tech-genius skills needed to implement all the changes I wanted to make.
Anyone who knows me knows I am very particular, which can make me a little difficult to work with. To my delight Aubrey is also very detailed oriented. As Meg Ryan says in When Harry Met Sally: "I just want it the way I want it." To which Billy Crystal replies: "I know. High maintenance." Ha! Now I am not admitting to being high maintenance, but like "Sally" I just know what I want.
Mike Bryant from Boise Pro Photo was also a major contributor. Not only did Mike execute an incredible photo-shoot, he also worked his magic in editing the photos. With a background in graphic design, Mike knows all kinds of fancy tricks to get your picture looking just the way you want it.
Case and point, I am using one of the photos from our shoot for my blog home page. The new design is white black and (of course) red. In the original picture we shot my lipstick was hot pink, making it clash with the blog design. Mike knew just how to fix that issue, with digital makeup of course! Why didn't I think of that :-)
Original photo w/ pink lipstick:
 |
| Photo Credit: Boise Pro Photo |
Digitally edited photo w/ red lipstick:
 |
| Photo Credit: Boise Pro Photo |
What have a learned from this redesign experience?
1). Know your limits and hire an expert. We all have our own special abilities, but we can't be good at every single thing. If you know what you're looking for and have a concept in mind, but don't know quite how to execute it then find someone who can. Working with experts in the field often helps spark a different view point or creative side you might not have considered before.
2). Do your research. I came across Aubrey's contact information through a fellow blogger I follow. I loved the simplicity of her blog and looked into who designed it and TA-DA I found Aubrey. Make sure you like the blogs the designer has completed, including their own site. It's importatnt to have compatible sense of style. One look at Aubrey's site and I was sold (the girl loves glitter, hello!).
3). Design takes time. Aubrey and I started the design process back in February. Between my own job, her job and many many e-mails (bless her heart for reading all of them), there was just never enough time. I am glad we both took the time with the design. It makes the final product that much better and instead of liking it, I am in *LOVE.*
4). It's okay to change your mind (to an extent). Although too many changes can result in additional delays or charges, it's important to make sure your design is everything you wanted it to be. Try to make multiple changes at once (instead of sending changes one at a time as you think of them). I confess I did this more than once in my redesign. Being new to the design process, I honestly didn't think about how much of a time-suck my one-at-a-time changes could be.
5) Take pride in your work. I am genuinely proud of the result of this redesign, it's just so me (you'll see what I mean).
So what does it look like you ask? Patience lovelies. You should be able to see it by the end of the day tomorrow. Stay tuned bombshells!!!
Be Bold,
Be Brave,
Be Beautiful,
The BoiseBombshell
Ps- Like many of you I will be traveling this weekend and will have limited access to my blog. Enjoy the holiday weekend!!! Hope it's filled with BBQs, friends, family and of course bright *red* lipstick.
Looking forward to it!
ReplyDelete