My client Lulu from Happy Journaling was thrilled to launch her Squarespace website so that her clients can find her inspiring art for journal lovers, her journaling academy, and her shop for custom journals. Lulu is a book binder and mixed media artist. Her Squarespace website has several unique features - my favourites are the colourful social media icons in the header, the unique blog graphics, and the whimsical wording in Lulu’s brand voice.
The first thing website visitors will notice is the custom logo at the top - it is designed to be very similar to her style of scrapbooking. The brand elements in her logo remind her clients of her journalling style with many layers stacked together. In my logo designs, I strive to include elements that represent my clients’ brand - Lulu’s logo perfectly symbolizes the art of scrapbooking.
Unless you are familiar with knowing how to code, the social media icons on Squarespace sites can only be black or white as there is no option to change the colour in the settings. A feature that is distinct to this site is the colourful social media icons in the header - it’s also rare that I place them in that spot because they are typically added to the bottom. However, Lulu’s large Instagram following means that her site places a larger emphasis on connections with social media. Another unique feature is the thin photo banners on the website which is different from my usual design style plus a carousel picture section that shows a kind of textured layout of Lulu’s work.
A typical homepage design leads your customers through a specific journey. If your website sells products, our first priority is to send them to the shop. On Lulu’s page, we placed a Visit My Boutique call to action to guide visitors over effortlessly. The three custom blog graphics entice her web visitors to click to learn more about her particular journal style - which is also great for SEO! Because Lulu’s business is so visual, a link to her gallery where she displays her artistic work is an important feature, so that is our third priority for Home.
When clients come to me, they know they need a polished website, but they often have trouble identifying their main goals. Before our design window even begins, I walk them through deciding what their intended actions are so that the website can be designed strategically. When designing, I start with the desired actions in mind, so that the site is not only beautiful but also functional.
Leading to the bottom of the homepage is a larger Instagram section than I would normally feature in my designs. The imagery of Lulu’s work is such a draw to her already large following, and Lulu connects with her clients most on the Instagram platform, so we incorporated it here to encourage people to follow her on Instagram so she can continue nurturing those leads. It also is a lovely showcase that is similar to the gallery aspect of sharing her artwork.
Lulu is passionate about scrapbooking and using recycled materials to create unique art journals and paintings and would like to not only inspire, but also teach others to do the same. On the Classes page is the Happy Journalers Academy which we worked on together to plan for the online workshops Lulu would offer. She created three free online workshops, a freebie product, and a separate section of tutorials for her journaling techniques and inspirational tips.
Lulu has one unique element on the Shop page because of the popularity of her journals. As a busy business owner, her journals are often sold out in a small number of sales every year. As a result, she offers commissioned custom journals. On this page we worked together to create a single product shop for the custom journals where her clients can order from and specify exactly what they want - this way, there is no need for her to go back and forth in her email inbox with clients.
Under the Journals section on the Vintage Paper Journals page, we created a parallax section (the background moves differently than the rest of the section) which is another reference to the textured layering design in Lulu’s work.
On the Art page is a section with several videos showing different style journals and a section with more of a journal gallery. It is important for Lulu’s clients to connect with her brand – joy, creativity, and a love of paper - so we used whimsical, on-brand words throughout her website.
It was fun working with Lulu, my second-ever European client, on her Squarespace website because we share a few connections - as a former scrapbooker and current digital creator myself, we also both speak French.
As a creative entrepreneur, how could it impact your brand to showcase your work online? If you’d like to expand your brand, connect with me on Instagram to ask me how.
