Hi Reader,

I hope summer's been treating you well. We're taking vacations, going to trade shows, and it's easier than ever to take long weekend trips with our four day week. If you have a hard time taking time away from your business, I have a link down below that might be helpful for you.

Today I wanted to show you some branding work we did for Joy LaForme, artist and illustrator. We have been talking a lot about Shopify and Klaviyo recently, so I wanted to remind you that we're a full service branding studio, too (in fact, that's why we're so good at the tech projects--because we understand brand strategy & design deeply). Branding is what makes everything else easier.

Here's a look at Joy's new look!

Joy told us,

After my brand strategy and brand identity design project with Aeolidia, I really feel so confident updating my branding with my clients, my website, and my printed materials - there's no question of what versions of a logo to use or which elements I should use, everything is very clear and it is so easy (and dare I say, fun) for me to follow the brand guide.

The project could not have gone more smoothly. I had a lot of detailed feedback for the designers at each stage and not a single person made me feel like my feedback was anything they could not help me tackle. Everyone was accommodating and wonderful, and in the end I got brand elements that are absolutely perfect.

I do know it can feel like a big investment to do something like this as a small business, especially if you are on your own. I've tried to do this on my own in the past and nothing compares to how easy it was working with Aeolidia and how the team was able to really figure out what I needed AND what I wanted. Figuring out what I needed (beyond the 'want') was such a key factor in getting my branding right.

Full brand identity, including typography, colors, stamps, and more.

We love working with artists on brands that are true to their work! Here's another example of how we incorporated an artist's own illustration work into their brand identity: 3 Fish Studios.

I know it can seem like brand identity is an expense, not an investment, so I asked five shop owners if their brand redesign helped them make money. Here's what they told me: Will a New Logo and Brand Design Pay For Itself?

Q&A

Here's a reader question about an email from Google (that you may also have received), from Marcella, as answered by Helen, Ecommerce Strategist on our team:

Q: Can your team synthesize and fix this core web vitals INP issue that is detected on my site?

A: INP (Interaction to Next Paint) refers to the amount of time a site takes to respond to a user interaction like a click or tap. Core Web Vitals is a set of metrics that measure real-world user experience for loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability of the page.

Many, if not most, websites got this email about INP when Google decided to announce this upcoming change very far in advance. According to Google, currently 45% of sites have poor INP. This is where you can find the current score for any site: https://pagespeed.web.dev

As it gets closer to March 2023, there will be more articles by and for developers explaining which types of changes have been shown to improve INP (it takes some trial and error, waiting weeks in between each test for a new score). By then we will likely have a better idea of what is in control of our developers vs something that can only be improved by Shopify or an app developer.

Also, keep in mind that these individual core web vitals often don’t have much of a real world impact. It is always a good idea to do what is feasible to get the best scores, but lots of very high-performing well-ranked sites fail the overall core web vitals test.

Question: Answered!

Our team includes experts in branding, design, development, email & SMS/text marketing, search engine optimization, copywriting, conversion optimization, ecommerce strategy, business growth and more. Email me back with your question! I'll consult one of our experts and share one response per week over email.

Interesting Clickables

Shopify is dropping their latest huge dump of announcements in Shopify Editions this morning live.
It can be especially hard for freelancers and small business owners to step away from work. Explore 7 strategies to unplug and take time off with less stress. (link via CreativeMornings)
If you're taking time off, why not OutHorse Your Email? (haha and also cute)