BTS: The New Made by NF Website
With the recent launch of the studio’s mini brand-refresh and new custom Squarespace website, I thought it would be fun to lift the curtain and share a bit more about the process. For this website redesign, I went through the exact same steps and process I take with each of my Squarespace design clients. Let’s dive in.
Phase One.
Planning and Assessing
It was a goal in 2022 to create a new online home that helped showcase the studio’s work, values and process on a more editorial and effortless scale. To do that, I knew it was time to collaborate with some other creatives to bring this to life. Having brand imagery and strategic copy is crucial for a strategic website, and two things I always recommend for my website design clients to invest in.
I reached out to Chloe Huls to book a brand photoshoot for early fall. She’s wildly talented and I love that she shoots both digital and film. We decided that Afternoons Studio was the perfect location, as it gave a minimal and on-brand vibe that I was hoping to achieve. Not to mention some of the editorial-inspired chairs and props they had, win-win! If you’re local to Phoenix and looking for new branding photos, she’s your gal.
I also knew I wanted to hire a copywriter for the website redesign. I had my heart set on the team at Lāer Studio, and they were a total dream to work with. Together, we crafted new website copy that truly speaks to the brand values, service offerings and experience behind Made by NF.
Once I had those dates and bookings in place, I set aside time in my studio’s calendar for working on a mini-brand refresh and to design and develop the full website.
Phase two.
Design and Development
When the time of the website redesign came around, I laid out all my assets copy and mockups with Adobe XD. It’s my go-to for creating mock ups before diving into the Squarespace side of things. This really helps visualize the flow and styling of the site before having to dive into coding and creation. Not to mention, it’s typically a really fun part of the process for my Squarespace design clients!
After things were feeling really good in XD, it was time to start the development of the website. For my new website, I decided it was time to upgrade to Squarespace 7.1, and for a majority of the site, it’s on Squarespace Fluid Engine. Fluid Engine is new as of 2022, so this really forced me to sit down and learn the ins-and-outs–to better serve my clients moving forward. For the most part, I think Fluid Engine is a great way to give some customized layouts without having to add in css to do it, so it will be a nice user-friendly interface for clients moving forward. Of course, each site will still have plenty of customizations and code to give it a bespoke, unique presence.
Once the site was fully designed and developed in Squarepsace, it was time to do the last finishing pieces. Those last steps aren’t necessarily the most fun, but they are important. Refreshing the site’s SEO, transferring over to 7.1, connecting the domain and making sure Google Analytics was installed and ready to go for launch.
phase three.
Launch and Celebrate
Treating myself like a client, it was time to celebrate the launch! I started the day with my favorite latte from a local coffee shop, then shared the new look on Instagram. It was so fun to see other peer’s reactions to the new elevated and artful home of Made by NF. With the new site launch, it’s also reinvigorated me to update the Worthwhile Journal, as well as the portfolio more frequently, which often falls to the bottom of the to-do list. I’m so excited to see how the new Squarespace website resonates with clients this year–I have a feeling it’s going to be an investment that quickly pays off with new client bookings.
Are you feeling like your website needs a refresh too?
