If you’ve been following my blog for even a short while, you’ve probably noticed that I can’t really leave a room alone for too long before I want to switch it up and try something new. If you’ve been following my blog for a few years, then you’ll know I have always done the same with my website. I think of Swoon Worthy as my little virtual home on the internet and as it’s grown and changed, I’ve tried to adapt and refresh it to keep up with those changes. The thing is, unlike home design where trends stick around for at least a few years, web design and the digital sphere is a rapidly changing beast.

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One moment, you feel like your site has all the newest bells and whistles and the next, you realise you are being quickly left behind by whatever the latest new looks and usability features are. I look back at my site and logo designs from even 3 or 4 years ago and I cringe in the same way I might view a home that hasn’t been redecorated since 1991.

Swoon Worthy Business Cards

Now, I have always taken on my own web design – mostly because I’m a cheapskate and I thought I could do it myself. The current design as you see here today was created over the Christmas and New Year period in 2014. I spent over 100 hours moving my blog from Blogger to WordPress and creating a fresh new look for the entire space. While I can mess around with a bit of HTML code, I’m absolutely no expert and the learning curve was tremendously steep for me. Every step of the way had to be researched thoroughly – I read countless articles online, watched so many tutorials and when things got really tough, I had to call on the limited assistance from the support teams of my host, my domain provider, the company I purchased the template from – the list goes on.

Suffice it to say, I ended up with a site I liked but that had limitations, mostly due to my own lack of knowledge and expertise. Over the last two years, those limitations have started to get to me. There are things about my blog that I’m not crazy about. I know sometimes it’s difficult to get around or to know where the latest post is. When you first come on to the homepage, it’s difficult to tell it’s even a blog. It’s pretty, yes, but there are some serious usability issues with it and I knew, after 6 years of going it alone, it was time to seek out the help of a professional.

Enter Becky Lord Design.

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Becky Lord Design Website – gorgeous right??

I’ve known Becky Lord (well, virtually) for a couple of years now. She designed my business cards for me (as seen in the picture of my office above) and I’ve always been a fan of her incredible talent and beautiful feminine and sassy designs. So when it came time to find the right person for the job, I knew she was the only one I could trust to hand over my baby.

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There’s been so much involved in the process behind the scenes and Becky is incredibly thorough in terms of getting to know what I want, my likes, my dislikes and how I like to be represented by my brand.

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Despite the fact that she ‘knows’ Swoon Worthy, it has really been a fun process digging deep and considering all the elements that really make my blog and my brand ME. We’ve gone through so many iterations of the logo, the icon, the patterns, the business card design and now we’re on to the website design itself.

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Today, I wanted to share a few of the new elements in terms of the branding that you’ll be seeing here on Swoon Worthy in the next few weeks. We’ve set a launch date of early December and I am super excited to introduce a brand new look. I hope you like it too!

Swoon Worthy Brand Style Guide

Of course, there may be a few days when things are a little off kilter here or something isn’t quite right and I’ll have a little bit of downtime as well as we move all the content over to the new design so I will apologise now for any inconvenience. We’re going to try to minimise the downtime ‘during construction’ as much as possible so I really appreciate your patience as we work through all of it!

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I’m so excited to enter this new phase of Swoon Worthy. As my home has evolved, so have I – as a person, as a blogger, as a business woman, as every other label I can give myself. So it makes sense for the site to continue to grow and evolve as well. I know sometimes change is a bit of a pain and we get comfortable when things stay the same. But fear not, it’ll still be the same content, just in pretty new packaging!

So what do you think of the new logo and branding details? Have you ever had a rebrand of your blog or business? Any tips? I’d love to hear from you!

 


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