Ideas

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Maybe you’ve already had a look around, but check out some websites to see what’s out there. There are numberless ways to design a site, so make a note of those that really stand out to you. Then take a minute to compare the sites you like against one another and see if they share any similarities.

Likewise, if there are design features that make you die a little inside, make note of a few examples to avoid. If you have a professional helping you with an affordable website design, such as an XCITE Web Designs website, share both lists with them so they can get a better idea of what you’re looking for.

Logo

If you don’t have a logo, it’s time to create one. This should be something simple and unique to you. Play around with some different options until you find the one that represents what your company is all about.

You could look at putting your face on the website and getting some decent headshots could be a great way to help redesign the look of your logo and branding. However, it can be hard to know what to wear for headshots, but you do want to make sure that you look your best. It can be a great way to add a personal touch to a website and brand, and even if it doesn’t formally become part of your logo it is a great idea to put a face to the name. 

If you already have a logo, determine whether or not it needs to be updated. Think about the overall feel you want your website to have. If your logo doesn’t fit that vision, it may be time to redesign.

Colors

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Add to your vision by delving into some colors (and even color schemes, what?). The coloring on your website will give visitors a sense of your company personality. It can influence the mood of your visitors, persuading them to look further into your services.

Consider tranquil blues, energetic reds, creative yellows, or natural greens to bring out the personality of your company. The subtle touch of a color will make a great first impression.

Fonts

There are probably millions of fonts in existence now, and if you wait to choose them until you’re sitting down with a designer, you’re going to waste a lot of valuable time that could be used to further the vision for your website.

Font can affect mood the same way that color does. It can also portray whether your company is professional, intelligent, or dedicated. So take some time to look over the best web fonts or most recommended so you’re prepared to design when it’s time to design.

Photos

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Visitors to your website will be drawn in by the images you use, but it can be hard to capture in photo form what you’re looking for. Photos can also be used to direct the visitor’s eye to a certain link or piece of information, so before you go on your photo shoot, draw out the basic layout you’ll want to use.

Once you have an idea of where your images will sit on the page, you can pay a photographer to get the money shots or take them yourself. If you’re not sure how to take a professional looking photo, use some of these basic tips:

• Take outdoor photos when the sun is coming in at an angle; put your back to the light.
• Take photos from multiple perspectives. Some of the best shots are ones you hadn’t planned.
• Use gridlines to line up the shot.
• Practice using an image editor to manipulate photos that are nearly perfect.

Organization

Your website should not only project your business’s purpose visually; it should have areas to explore more about your business and how it functions. Maybe you don’t have too much to elaborate on and want a one-page website split into relevant sections about you and your services.

Beyond visual hierarchy and page structure, consider how content organization supports both findability and conversions. A site that groups services clearly, uses descriptive headings and intuitive navigation helps visitors complete tasks and makes pages easier for search engines to index. Working with a team that blends thoughtful UX with on‑page SEO can reduce revisions and speed time to value; for practical examples of this integrated approach, see Rounded Digital’s website design services. That combination helps ensure your site not only looks professional but also drives qualified traffic and leads.

Or maybe you do so much, you want a page for each department of your company. Either way, make a plan for how much space you’ll need and how you want it organized. How will you group different pages together, and will the page layout be the same on all pages?

Content

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You’ll also want to write out the most important content you intend to display (unless you’ve hired someone to take that on as well). Things like your company purpose and About Us page should be a cinch.

You can also take a stab at what you want clickable links and buttons used for navigation to say. The more you’re able to experiment, the more you’ll be able to tweak the vision you have until it’s all telling the same story.. It’s likely that ideas for new pages or content will come to mind while you’re doing this, making your vision better than you’d originally planned.

The post Design Decisions To Make Before Designing Your Website appeared first on InstantELLA.

For folks like us, workspace becomes critical to our productivity. Both my husband and are very ordered and organized. We cannot work in clutter and need our space to be creative. More importantly our space has to bear our personality whether it be artsy, elegant yet minimalistic like me or hardcore, reflective and precise like him.

Keeping all of this in mind. We decided we needed to re-decorate the office. The clincher was to do it on a low budget, making use of what was already in the house as much as possible.  And that’s where creativity, resourcefulness and confidence comes in. Here are a few ideas we put into reality and which we hope will inspire you when you decide to re-decorate and re-organize your workspace. Remember to get all your electrical grounding checked if doing any proper DIY to prevent house fires and stop electrical faults happening. 

Utility is key!

Get rid of the clutter. Make sure you only have what you absolutely need taking up space in your home office. Utility means functionality to me, and that’s where I think a lot of us make trade-offs, having to sacrifice creativity and art to functionality. But I didn’t and here’s how:

• • Desk: For us, this meant having just one desk instead of 2. The way to get around seating issues is to find a desk that allows for leg space on at least 2 sides if not all the way around. (aha! Now you get it.)
  • Calendars: The world may have gone digital, but I still use the traditional calendar. It’s convenient and taking up wall space is always better than taking up desk space when you already have a small desk to begin with. It’s also artsy. What do I mean? Have you ever tried taking a Video Gamer’s calendar (in our case it was Halo that blended perfectly well with the rest of the office theme) and hanging it to look like a poster? Try it. High chance you’ll love it!

• Coasters: I get through my day with at least 3 caffeine breaks so instead of having dull boring coasters, I picked up a set of 4 Star Wars’ coasters at Target (on clearance) with a black and white Storm Trooper theme to match the black and white casing of my husband’s gaming PC in the office. Needless to say the coaster is theme appropriate, does it’s job and when it’s not, it still makes for an interesting piece of art!

Space & Color

Ours is a small workspace. I discovered however, that if you invest in white furniture and add some mirrors to the mix, it can do wonders. That’s why we chose an unused 3.5 ft X 2 ft vanity mirror to add a sense of space and depth to the room.

If you have to have color, stick to 1 or 2 only and play around with shades of the same color rather than use a third. For us this was red and blue and the theme runs through the posters and wall art in the office.

Be sure to pick up pieces from reputable places such as Weaver Furniture Barn. No matter what ideas you have floating around in your head you don’t want subpar pieces in your office. It should be a cozy space that fosters productivity, so when selecting pieces it is important to bear this in mind.

The biggest value add to the office however, has been this sturdy white storage cube organizer we recently purchased online at Walmart. It is not only useful, acting as a bookshelf, curio display shelf and storage (for all the ugly stuff in the office people don’t want you to see. Lol) but lends modernity to the room. Ours may look like one piece but is actually 2 single cubes (bought separately) and mounted on the lower 3- piece cube. I went a step further and added a white magazine/file holder (which had I lying around the house) to the ensemble which may not even be noticeable because it blends in so well. Here’s another tip: everything is art. Be attentive to odds and ends around the house , which if paired well with other items can turn into a beautiful utility and would definitely save you a trip to the store.

Lighting, like mirrors can add beauty and space to a room. A workspace definitely needs this. But ceiling lights can be harsh sometimes, kill the aesthetics of the room and be very unnerving for people trying to work. A soft light on the other hand can be relaxing, help your focus and give you that much needed break to meet deadlines. We added medium voltage contemporary, light-weight lamps to the room. I also put together a decorative light bowl, using a spare glass bowl, LED lights and some old potpourri fill ups I no longer need. If you don’t have potpourri, you can use candles, decorative stones or shells. Run with your imagination here

Reflect your personality

This is undoubtedly the most important part of decorating your home office. It’s your office and must reflect your personality. As a child, like most boys, my husband collected many action figures from Star Trek, Spawn, Pokemon, GI Joe, etc. So it was no surprise that when I came across a ton of them in the basement and began to organize his collection, he suggested we use a few to mount in the office. If action figures was his thing, the light bowls were mine and what goes better with light than greenery, so I added a few (fake) indoor table plants. It makes the room more aesthetics. And who doesn’t have stickers and cutouts, too interesting to get rid of, but also too small to do anything meaningful with? I just took a few interesting high quality curated stickers a client had given my husband to sample, mounted them on white paper (kind of like a collage) and framed them in a small desk frame. My husband loves it and says it motivates him to ‘do more’ and ‘keep it simple’ at work because that’s exactly what the stickers say.

My husband and I are proud of our new home office and the short time we took to get it done. It’s our space and one of the prettiest rooms in the house, decorated on a low-cost budget. Breathing new life into old space isn’t difficult to do and if we can do it, so could you!

The post Fun DIY Projects For Your Home-Office appeared first on InstantELLA.