There are few things more satisfying in a web designers world than seeing a site you’ve helped with go live. Lotsafreshair.com is no exception. And the cool thing about this one is that it was a collaborative effort: yours truly in the design corner while the fabulous Dee Teal from thewebprincess.com took care of the development.
Caro Ryan – Sydney based producer, blogger, outdoorsy type and all round cool chick – had been nurturing her lotsafreshair.com blog for a while. Her content was awesome but looking a tad stale, and its home on WordPress.com (the free, hosted version of WordPress) was getting a little crowded. Needing more real estate on the homepage of her site to show off all the good stuff she was producing, including highlighting her awesome videos, Caro contacted her mate Dee.
These days, it’s good to know people who happen to know how to do internetty type stuff, and Dee (aka The Web Princess) is an exceptional WordPress developer. After an initial consultation with Dee to establish her goals, I was contracted to bring the design of lotsafreshair.com to life.
Caro’s design brief was open – she needed something that reflected her personality but was also going to carry her content well. Her blog had so much to offer but a lot of it was buried so the introduction of new categories and a deeper navigation meant this content could be easily accessed and organised. I felt that with the volume of posts Caro had, a magazine-style layout would be best. With that in mind, I got moving on the design. We had a few rounds trying out different colour palettes before settling on something that sung of Caro’s lively and engaging character.
Lotsafreshair – Bushwalking and Hiking Tips from an Unexpected Outdoors Chick
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed seeing this project through, and although I wasn’t responsible for the development, working with Dee has revealed to me the benefits of collaborating with respectful and talented individuals. I can’t wait to start on the next project with her.
And a little note to Caro – thanks for trusting me with the challenge of designing your Lotsafreshair.com blog. I look forward hearing the feedback from your community and to see how the new engaging layout and smooth blogging platform helps grow your reach.
Caro’s blog has been lovingly crafted on the Genesis Framework for WordPress. It’s a customised child theme based on the ‘Metro Pro’ child theme by StudioPress and it’s mobile responsive which means it looks great on all devices.
