SOS: Readers I need your help!
Hello Loves,
I need massive amounts of help right now and I think my lovely readers will be more than up for the challenge.
As you may know I started this blog as an interior design lover, that turned into me going for my dreams, getting some schooling interior design and launching my business, Effortless Style Interiors.
While I haven’t official launched with a professional site up I have taken on some clients, which has been amazing.
So, what’s my problem? My professional site. I seem to be having difficulties communicating what it is I actually want the site to look like.
I want it to be fun and chic with a bit of Kate Spade appeal and oh yea some of me too!
Here is my business card:
![businesscardfront_thumb[1]](http://lh5.ggpht.com/_dnu7DoNodKk/S1R_kObsIeI/AAAAAAAADhI/RNoHQUjBQ-Q/s1600-h/businesscardfront_thumb%5B1%5D%5B3%5D.png "businesscardfront_thumb[1]")
I love the pop of citron with a touch of zebra, love the coordination of the teal blue and warm gray for font and love the tag line.
How can you help? Glad you should ask. I would love a comment with a favorite site of yours that you enjoy. It can be an interior designers or simply an online shop. I need some inspiration so that I can start to formulate a game plan.
Do you love the citron and teal or do you think it would scare some people off?
My original colors were brown, orange and peacock blue. Do we go back to the beginning?
Any comments/advice/help would be amazing! Today would be a perfect day for some first time commenter’s to come out of the wood work!
xoxo,
Camila
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ON THE BLOG
My living room is one of the rooms that evolved drastically from when we first moved one. Originally I painted the walls chocolate brown and did accents of white, blue and orange. That lasted maybe 2 years.
Our dining room sat empty for months. Okay maybe it was empty for just a handful of weeks and then we couldn’t take it anymore and put in a folding table and plastic outdoor chairs, but in my mind that was still empty.
On the main floor of our house we have a Florida room. Being that it’s a Florida room it is a considered a 3 season room, because there is no heat in the room. The previous owners used it as an indoor patio with outdoor furniture and it looked like this when we moved in.
Hi, I'm one of those first time commenters, recent reader. I find myself in a similar situation, minus the clients (if you don't mind me asking, could you share how you've gotten your clients? Any marketing tips, or were they people you knew already? I'd appreciate any business start up information you could give!) Some sites my partner and I love are:
http://www.younghouselove.com
http://makingitlovely.com/
http://www.ohjoy.blogs.com/
http://www.byrdandbelle.com/
We are lucky enough that my partner's sister in law is a graphic designer, but it did really help to make a long list of sites we knew we liked, and then start flipping through them to figure out WHY we liked each one.
Hope this helps!
Kim
Your business cards are adorable and seem to really suit you! I'm sure you've seen it, but I think cocokelley.com is an uberchic site. Also piecesinc.com is well done. Good luck, I know it'll be great!
I love the color combo, definitely keep that! I think your business cards are adorable and could be a great jumping off point for the site. Perhaps make the site look like a larger version of them, which would also help with branding. Maybe the sidebars could be in the citron color, with a white background for the body and a header that has that same font and detail shown on the card. I dont know if that helps or makes sense, but I think the card is perfect and a great place to start. Good luck! 🙂
I love your business cards and agree with Peck Avenue and Ms. Bright. One site I love for color inspiration is http://www.dabneyleeathome.com/
Hi! First time commenter here, but wanted to say hi and offer my take…the sites I love most are clean, simple, and uncomplicated. Not surprisingly, my own blog is an example of this, ha ha:) Love the business card, too…maybe tone down the colors slightly for a website? You don't want it to be too bright or loud, esp. if you want to appeal to all potential clients. NOt that I think your bus. card is too loud or bright, but on a larger scale (as in a website), it may appear that way:)
Hope that helps!
Love your colors, but the Citron might be too much on a blog template. I love going to sites that are clean, simple and that I can locate the information quickly that I am looking for, especially when it comes to a business site. You want your customers/clients to be able to access info quickly and easily without having to search too much. A site that is difficult to navigate can be frustrating and most people won't spend the time to search through it.
Just my two cents… Good luck!
I think it's fantastic that you're moving along with your dream. I am going to echo the sentiments of previous commenters and say that the sites I love are clean & easy to navigate. Maybe this is going to make me wildly unpopular, but I think your business cards are a little young for a business owner & for what you're attempting to accomplish. I don't want to say juvenile because that's not what I mean. I don't know if it's that the colors are too bright, that it's too trendy with the zebra, but I suspect it's the fonts? Maybe try switching out the font and see if that gives you a more professional feel. Lots of luck & can't wait to see your new site!
I like the colors you’ve chosen and wouldn’t regress to the blue/orange/brown combo (it seems like everyone is doing that). For your website, I agree with what everyone else has said. Stay away from citron being the primary color on the site. I agree that it would be overpowering. I love the look of the teal design on your card. The fact that it looks hand-drawn ties into your tagline. Don’t lose that element when designing your site!
i love the citron and teal! it is very "you"…. definitely keep some zebra…
I think for branding purposes it's better to keep your business cards and website linked in a similar theme and colour scheme. I love your business cards and definitely think you should stick with that as your inspiration. Good luck!!
i agree with the "less is more" website approach of some of the comments above. i like the color combo and design of your business card a lot and think that you should somehow make sure that is on the website – but also make sure your website is a reflection of you and a showcase for your work. easier said than done though, right? good luck!
I like the colors, and think keeping it simple would be best. Using the citron as a background maybe too much for readers eyes. I suggest using the business card feel for the header of the site and use the lighter shade as background color. Good luck! I know you've been struggling with it.
Love the color combo you have selected! I agree, stick to your look & feel and communicate it throughout (website, blog, biz cards, etc). Keeping it simple is key.
I like Coco + Kelly's look on her blog.
xo,
cristin
I know very little about this sort of thing, but my instincts say that your site's design should reflect the style of design that you would like to be associated with producing. Your card tells me that you like classics (zebra) with a twist (the bright, fun colors.)
well i'm a big fan of the brown/lime/blue combination — i'm using one variation of this color scheme on my own blog 🙂 definitely check out coco+kelley for some blog inspiration, she has a chic logo and tagline as well as an easily navigable site. good luck on this exciting adventure!
oooh, i love this! sorry, i'm not much help in the constructive criticism area, but that's because i really like the lime zebra and teal. i think a little brown in there would look good.
My suggestion is to lose the tag line. I think the name says it all. You are decorating interiors, with style, effortlessly. That is probably why you chose the name in the first place. As a customer, that's what I would be drawn to.
As others have suggested, keep it simple. If you were to do this, then I think the colours can be toned down a bit, maybe the same colours in different shades?
I hope that helps and that I haven't sounded critical; you did ask 🙂
You have great style and will be fantastic in your new business. I wish only wonderful things for you.
Mel
I love your color combo! Very jealous of all your adventures so far! I love your business card it is really eye catching and I think if you elongated it and used it as the header of you blog and maybe the zebra down the sides? I don't know, personally the over all citrus on the whole thing might overwhelm me but with a pop of it would be perfect and it would tie back into your business card. Good Luck!
what do you love???? This is your business, how do you feel when you look at your logo? It will be interesting to see what the others say. I say go with what you love, go with your own instincts.
Hmmmm…Off the top of my head I love Elements of Style blog!
love the citron and teal!!!
psst. check out imoi.com for their uber chic color combos, (blue french foo dogs, hello!), oh joy's blog is amazing, as is Tory Burch's blog at her site. Good Luck!
the zhush
Love the colors! But I agree with the some of the others that we need a united front!! I would love to see your sight redesigned with your colors! I just recently ordered biz cards for a blogging conference and it was so hard to settle on a theme/color/design. (I totally empathize with you!)
BTW – love your tag line! I think it is perfect!
so, here is my professional advice(from my old life old job)
for branding purposes, consistency is key.
and since i consider us close and personal friends(dont you agree) you need a little kate spade prep in the mix, and zebra!
so I dont think ive helped at all, but i'm loving the direction your starting!
I love your card. It is fresh, modern and eye catching. You should do what feels right to you. It is your dream, so try to put everything you love into it and be confident in your choices. If you are looking for inspiration I would check out all the big NY designers web sites. From Charlotte Moss to the newest Indy designer and see where you fit in. Best of Luck-
creaturecomfortsblog.com and decor8blog.com have always been a good source. hope that helps!
warmly,
lana
lanaandjoey.com
Camilla – I'm thrilled for you & I really doubt that you'd make a wrong decision. I love your new business card & the colors are cheerful. I agree with one of my fellow bloggers that it may be good to be consistent throughout with your cards, website, etc. Just a thought. My favorite online retailer is Doxa for it's incredible lines. My favorite interior designer site is Peter Dunham in L.A. & Mary McDonald. Great things lie ahead for you in 2010!!
Love the card. I think the color palette is perfect.
I'm a big fan of Angie Hranowsky's interior design site:
http://www.angiehranowsky.com/
I also like Kwinter & Co:
http://www.kwinterdesign.com/
You might also try Mint Home Decor:
http://www.minthomedecor.com
Good luck!
I could see you having a fun & unique website kind of like Ruby Press: http://rubypr.com/ And if you love those colors, roll with 'em. Just use a lot of white to balance it out. Cheers & Good luck!
Hmmm this is my very first comment on your blog, but I would lean towards the brown, orange and peacock blue, personally. I'm not sure the current color choices would scare people off, per say, but I think more people might prefer the others. Best of luck to you!
Who are your clients? You can't be everybody's decorator, so I'd recommend choosing the demographic with whom you will most likely be working. The Kate Spade look is awesome but that means your look is more Little Green Notebook vs. Urban Grace. Is that true and is that what you are going for? If so, perfect!?
Make your website and business cards have a similar feel to establish a brand–but make sure that the essence of your brand is visually captured on your site and in your cards. The aesthetic of these items will actually help people determine if you have "their style," making it such that they want to work with you.
Good luck!
Oooh! I can't wait to see what you come up with! I'm SO ready to combine my sites – and it's really hard to nail down the style I want!!
I'm sure yours will be absolutely gorgeous though!
I think you should use the same font and colors and your business card and go from there. I think you should trust your gut and go with it, you have amazing style and taste girl!!
Hi,
I like the business card. Look at my interior dec site
http://www.stabler-pealeinteriors.com
It was created with Yahoo Site solution. They have plenty of customizable templates and it is sooo easy.
Kerry
http://www.goodtastegoodtasting.blogspot.com
First time commenter. My two cents: keep the theme the same across the site, card, and blog. Tag line is great and you could even add the line to your current blog and it would fit. As someone mentioned in an earlier post, you want to make sure the your brand has universal appeal. But, you also want to make sure you get across your own personal style. Don't be affraid to show it…and to be blod…especially if you have good taste (which you do)! So I think you stick with what you have…you can always switch things up when you need more cards and/or get sick of the website. In terms of sites for inspiration, I love the green background on the current KateSpade.com site. Fresh and pretty, yet perfect for anytime of the year. Or take the TrinaTurk.com route and let the background be just that…and your portfolio and interiors will add the pop to the page. Something closer to home would be the Caitlin Creer website you profiled…that's how I found my way to your blog 😉 You have great content on the site and it's obvious you have an eye for design. Best of luck to you!!
I love the card design (especially the curly brackets) and the colors. It is different and lively, something you don't often see in business cards.
I am a web designer and if you need some help with your website, I would be more than happy to help. Check out my website: htpp://mirabelleza.com
Sorry for the typo: http://mirabelleza.com
I like your colors and your tag line and I think all of the advice re: connecting the cards to the site has been good advice. Maybe consider the zebra on the back and the tag line towards the bottom in the citron (or some variation of that). I notice everyone turns business cards around when they get them and I like the idea of classic (on the front) with a twist (on back!). Good luck! Can't wait to see what you do!