23 November 23, 2018

WordPress.com vs WordPress.org

2023-05-02T12:58:09+00:00By |Graphic Design, Marketing, Website Design, WordPress|

WordPress.com vs WordPress.org Confused between WordPress.com and WordPress.org? Here is a simple explanation: wordpress.com - WordPress will host your website for you for free but it comes with a hefty price tag of a horrible looking domain like thisdesigngirl.wordpress.com. wordpress.org - You host your own website. Your domain would be like thisdesigngirl.com. But of course, there are pros and cons to both. Keep in mind that both options are essentially free. WordPress is a free open source software. But it's OTHER things that you need to pay for to get them to work, like hosting, domain name, plugins, premium themes etc. [...]

4 March 4, 2018

Using the Mockup Scene Creator to Create Flat Lays

2023-05-02T13:03:15+00:00By |Entrepreneurship, Graphic Design, Marketing, Photography, Photoshop, Website Design, WordPress|

Using the Mockup Scene Creator to Create Flat Lays Sometimes you just want to have control over your entire Flat Lay! Look no further! This Mockup Scene Creator features everything that The Sophisticated Entrepreneur has on their desk. Sometimes less is more! I love the minimalist look and sourced pieces that I would use in my own setting. Objects were shot individually and painstakingly clipped just for you (anyone who knows Photoshop knows what I mean! ;) ) In this quick little Photoshop video tutorial (6:45), I will show you how to use the Mockup Scene Creator from Flat Lay [...]

6 July 6, 2017

Flat Lay + Styled Desktops / flatlaystudio.com

2023-05-02T13:06:42+00:00By |Entrepreneurship, Graphic Design, Illustrator, Marketing, Website Design, WordPress|

Introducing Flat Lay + Styled Desktops at flatlaystudio.com I'm so excited to announce that I have added Flat Lay / Styled Desktops to which is available for purchase Flat Lay Studio. What are Flat Lay + Styled Desktops? They are styled stock photography that every blogger, online creative or business savvy entrepreneur can use to beef up their marketing brand or image. These styled photos are great for any blogpost, sidebar widget, or slider graphic that you may need as a graphic accompaniment to your website or promotion campaign. My style is geared towards minimalist desktop design. I have included a [...]

9 May 9, 2017

Is Your Ad Design Ugly?

2023-05-02T14:36:43+00:00By |Entrepreneurship, Graphic Design, Illustrator, Marketing, Photoshop, Website Design, WordPress|

Is Your Ad Design Ugly? Is your ad design ugly? What truly makes a great design? An effective design or ad is not just all about looks. There are 3 main components when designing anything whether it be a simple web banner, a lead sales page, a corporate brochure, or even something as simple as a business card. Message Delivery Aesthetics Message Define crystal clear what message you are trying to convey. Do not leave anything up for assumption. Why? Because people don't have time to waste and by 8 seconds, they would already have moved on. Is this sad? Yes. But [...]

4 May 4, 2017

Design 101 ~ The Psychology of Color

2023-05-02T14:34:02+00:00By |Art, Entrepreneurship, Graphic Design, Home Design, Illustrator, Photoshop, Website Design, WordPress|

The Psychology of Color in Marketing and Branding If I were to play a song for you that you listened to while growing up, there is no doubt that you would remember all the words AND the feelings and emotions that were associated with it. For example, assuming you are my age, and I say "INXS, Never Tear Us Apart", what fond memories do you have? OMG! I remember when I slow danced in Grade 6 to that song! Am I right? Well, imagine that with color. We know that Red is Love, Purple is Royalty, Blue is Calming and [...]

21 April 21, 2017

Top 5 Most Effective Web Banner Sizes

2023-05-04T00:22:04+00:00By |Entrepreneurship, Graphic Design, Marketing, Photoshop, Website Design, WordPress|

Top 5 Most Effective Web Banner Sizes Below are the standard web banner sizes that you can implement on any website. The ones that are highlighted in Pink are considered the top 5 most effective web banner sizes according to Google. Leaderboard (728 x 90 pixels) Large Rectangle (336 x 280) Half Page Banner (300 x 600) Medium Banner (300 x 250) Large Mobile Banner (320 x 100) Full Banner (468 x 60) Half Banner (234 x 60) Vertical Banner (120 x 240) Wide Skyscraper (160 x 600) Skyscraper (120 x 90) Button 1 (120 x 90) Button 2 (120 [...]

11 April 11, 2017

A Must have for any Designer: Client Agreement and Policy

2023-05-04T00:42:37+00:00By |Entrepreneurship, Graphic Design, Marketing, Website Design, WordPress|

Client Agreement and Policy Grab my free resources which includes a Client Agreement and Policy! Enter your email on the right sidebar. As with any type of service related job, it is only common sense to have a client agreement and policy. This ensures that both parties understand what is expected to make sure that the job gets done. With freelance design, here are 2 things you need to do before you start any job: Client Agreement and Policy Get a deposit Why I Stopped Doing Design Contracts I use to be really adamant in making sure that contracts get [...]

27 March 27, 2017

How to Determine your WordPress Sidebar Width

2023-05-04T00:42:32+00:00By |Graphic Design, Marketing, Photoshop, Website Design, WordPress|

How to Determine your WordPress Sidebar Width Here's a quick video where I show you how to determine your WordPress sidebar width so that you can design all of your banner ads with a consistent width. For a more in-depth post on how to design and add a banner to your sidebar, I offer a video tutorial here. Step 1: Go to your WordPress Dashboard / Appearance / Widgets Step 2: Type in 2-3 sentences of dummy text Step 3: Print Screen (MAC hit Command + Shift + 3 / PC hit the print screen button) Step 4: Bring that screen shot [...]

26 March 26, 2017

How to Design and Add a Banner to Your WordPress Sidebar Widget

2023-05-04T00:41:58+00:00By |Entrepreneurship, Graphic Design, Marketing, Photoshop, Website Design, WordPress|

How to Design and Add a Banner to Your WordPress Sidebar Widget In this video tutorial, I am going to show you how to design and add a banner to your WordPress Sidebar Widget along with the HTML code. What should you put on your sidebar? ✓ Mail Opt-In Form ✓ Mini Bio no longer than 2 sentences ✓ Your own banner ads ✓ Blogroll limited to between 10-20 posts. ✓ Affiliate banner ads limited to no more than 2-3 ✓ Search bar (should be at the very top) ✓ Any other text/links that doesn't run too long that are crucial [...]

7 March 7, 2017

5 Best Places to Get Free Digital Assets

2023-05-02T13:33:23+00:00By |Graphic Design, Photoshop, Website Design, WordPress|

5 Best Places to Get Free Digital Assets In any designer's arsenal, lies a stack of digital assets. These can range from social media icons to stock photos, to vector art. If you are a fellow designer, I'm pretty sure that you have your own stash of handy resources.  Here are my 5 best places to get free digital assets: 1. Creative Market Creative Market is a platform for handcrafted, mousemade design content from independent creatives around the world. Picture Etsy but with digital products. Every Monday, they feature 6 free downloads. This can range from custom created fonts, to [...]

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