⚓️ From marine biology to MySQL databases - an interview with me
Published about 1 year ago • 4 min read
Hi Reader,
We've just gotten back from the h+h trade show, and there's a lot to get caught up on. I'm planning to share a fun recap with you next week (Helen, Christine, and I accidentally all wore a fashion uniform -- I have pics)!
In the meantime, I taught a class for Pattern Observer's Textile Design Lab earlier this week, and Amanda on their team was a delight to speak with. Today, I'm sharing an interview with me.
This interview was originally published in Pattern Observer on April 15, 2024.
Can you tell us about your current business and what sort of projects you are working on? What has been one of your favorite projects?
Everything we do centers around ecommerce sites. I’ve been creating online shops for 20 years this year! One of the things I learned early on is that there is just so much that’s needed for an ecommerce site. There are so many things that are make-or-break. For instance, the best planned website can be ruined by bad photography. That’s why from the start, I incorporated branding into my offerings. Now I have a great team of designers, developers, strategists, and content creators to make everything work together: from brand strategy to website to email marketing.
Vintage postage-inspired stamps for Joy Laforme.
We enjoy working with creative, design-oriented brands, and at this very moment, we’re creating a custom site for a stationery brand, we’re building a complex yarn site, and we’re working on branding for a cookbook shop – among many other things. We usually have about two dozen projects happening at once, with roughly half of them being ongoing optimization projects for people we work with long-term.
Brand guide for Whispering Willow.
One of my favorite recent projects is a website for Sister Golden, who make flower art. It was a delight to create a perfectly on-brand site for this mother-daughter duo.
Mobile-first website for Sister Golden.
How did your path go from UC Santa Cruz photographing thistles and studying biology to founding a web and graphic design business?
My assumption was that, while it was important to have a college degree, it probably didn’t matter what field it was in, so I decided to do something I was really into: marine biology. I didn’t have a dream to become a marine biologist, but I did enjoy studying the subject and hanging out with elephant seals on the beach.
Balanced Bites delivery truck features a fun pattern.
In my free time, though, I was always in the computer lab, learning how to use the scanner, Photoshop, and word processing tools to keep publishing the zine I’d started in high school. The internet was a baby at the time, and I put together a website for my zine. I enjoyed it so much that I redesigned it very regularly – maybe monthly? My band and record label friends found out that I could create websites, so they started trading records and CDs with me to get my help.
Eventually, I helped out a friend with an online shop, and started learning how MySQL databases work, and how to install SSL certificates. This was a year before Etsy existed, and many years before Shopify existed. It wasn’t easy to make a website yourself back then; you had to know how to code, and you often had to mess around directly in the database.
Brand design for GRDN.
I was learning to be a designer, but I never felt like an artist, so I hired some of my favorite artists to create illustrations that I would then use to create the site design. There weren’t a lot of people creating illustrated websites at the time, so my work really took off. People want things to be more minimalist now, but I love it when we can work with an artist, illustrator, or kids’ brand that really want to create something artistic and quirky.
Packaging design for Kate Ryan Skincare.
How did you become a certified expert of Shopify?
We have been Shopify Partners since February, 2012. There was an application and review process. I’ve heard it’s hard to get into the Shopify Partners directory now. Before the pandemic, Shopify flew me and about a dozen other Shopify Experts out to their headquarters to serve as a partner roundtable, and share ideas back and forth, which was a great experience. They also used to host a popular conference for their partners, including agencies, designers, developers and app companies.
Custom website for Lisa Congdon.
We’ve worked with Shopify a few times over the years to create a video course, present at webinars hosted by them, and we have an in-person workshop at Shopify’s space in Manhattan coming up this year.
...read on for more about how I built and grew Aeolidia, my and my design team's favorite designers, and some tips on SEO and website mistakes not to make:
Join me Wednesday, May 22nd for a CreativeMornings Field Trip; I'll present Why & How to Move to a 4 Day Work Week. Register here.
If you are an Artist or Visual Creative, you will love this illuminating podcast episode with Artist Consultant Pennylane Shen: How to Strengthen Your Work.
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Website for Totally Toronto Art.
Totally Toronto Art offers a curated collection of wall art, posters, prints and gifts that captures Toronto's cultural heritage and storied charm.
