May Project Update!

Happy Monday everyone! Just a quick note to all current (and potential) clients that I will be out of town the next few days and will return all emails this Friday (May 17). May projects are coming along SO well and I'll be sending out a round of proofs on Friday to a handful of clients! Chat soon! -Melissa

Custom Rebranding for Skinnyluscious

I am SO excited to reveal my latest rebranding project for Dori over Skinnyluscious. She's a fabulous food blogger who focuses on providing healthy recipes to her readers (as well as gorgeous food photography!). I had so much fun coming up with her new design & love how it turned out! 

For her header design, I played off the "skinny" idea by highlighting the "i" in Skinny, to add a very subtle graphical element to the logo-type (that to some may read as a skinny little person!). I thought this was a fun way to add a hidden second meaning to the logo-type.

Be sure to stop on over to Skinnyluscious to check out the new design & take a look at her mouth-watering recipes!

Behind the Scenes at Melissa Rose Design

Today, I'm going to share with you a behind-the-scenes look into how I created a recent blog designs from start to finish. I'm big into hand drawn illustrations and I love the opportunity to whip out my sketchpad when starting a design. I'm a big believer in sketching out designs in the beginning, in order to fully conceptualize what type of layout is appropriate for that individual blogger.

I recently had the opportunity to work with Danielle over at Framed Frosting on her blog design/rebrand, and today I'm going to give you a little sneak peek at how I created it from sketchpad to computer!

When Danielle first came to me, she had a lot of ideas on what she wanted it to look like. Whimsical, watercolor, polka dots, use of glittery gold, were a few things she had mentioned she liked. 

So I set off to find a way to bring all these different elements together into one unified design. Like most of my designs, I began sketching on paper. With design so much geared toward computers these days, it's important for me to take a step back and conceptualize before jumping into a design. Sketching can not only lead to other great ideas, but it can also be the first step to creating organic & natural typography and graphics. Many sheets of paper later, I had a few "winning" sketches that I wanted to work with. I scanned them into the computer, where I vectorized them, and worked with them from there.

After laying down the "mood" of the design with the hand drawn elements, I then set off to incorporate watercolor into the design. I was unhappy with the watercolor images I was finding online, and knew that the only way to achieve the form, color, and quality I wanted was to produce it myself. So I whipped out my sophomore year watercolor set and began painting. I set off to achieve a shape that would fit well as a header and frame the top of the blog.

After producing the main graphic elements, the next step was to move to the computer. At this point, I sat down and figured out what types of fonts & colors would work well with the whimsical & organic feel I was trying to achieve. A mix of whimsical script & both clean cut serif and sans serif fonts turned out to be a great mix for a fun, young, and organic feel. Danielle had a certain color palette in mind, and after incorporating it throughout the design, everything came together! I loved working with Danielle to make her vision come to life and am so happy with how it turned out!

And that's how it all came to be! Like these behind-the-scenes types of posts

Let me know in the comments!

Looking for a custom blog design? Head on over to the studio website for package & pricing information! I'd love to take your brand to the next level!

Wall Art In Action!

I was SO excited when I went to check in on a past client's blog to find photos of my wall art designs in action! Erin, over at Cali-Land Chic purchased two of my shop's wall art prints & also had me create two custom ones for her! One of those prints was a custom print of her blog's new header logo (see below photo). I had so much fun creating these prints for her new (adooorrabllee!!) craft room. Be sure to check out her post with more photos of the prints in action!

(This print available here. Other print designs can be found here.)

See the print from above in her real-life space? It's in the top right hand corner! I LOVE seeing my prints get put to use. I also worked with her to design the other 3 prints on the left & center. So fun.

Click here for her Craft Room Makeover post 

& to see more photos of the prints live and in action!

Custom Blog Design for Framed Frosting

One of my latest custom designs for Framed Frosting!  I LOVED working on this soft, hand drawn, and whimsical design. Whether it be the pin-it hover feature, the social media button incorporation, or the hand-painted watercolor accents (yes, I got out my actual paints out for this one!), this design has all the bells and whistles!

Be sure to stop by again soon for a behind-the-scenes look at how this hand drawn design was created!

Head over to www.framedfrosting.com to see it in action!

Now Offering Hover Pin-It Button Service!

Exciting feature for Bloggers! You may have seen the "Hover" Pinterest button on images from other blogs before. Ever wonder how to get that for your own blog ? Pinterest is one of my MAIN traffic sources for my food/recipe blog and having the option to "Pin" your photos is proving to be very important in reaching new audiences through Pinterest.

For a limited time only, I will be offering a Custom "Pin It" Install/Coding service. It will include a custom button to match your site, as well as installation! This feature is compatible with many standard blog layouts. Be sure to include your URL in the email so I can check compatibility. Spots are limited, so book fast!

Offer ends February 8th or until spots fill up!

Custom Blog Design UPDATE

Attention potential clients: I will be closing down submissions for Custom Blog Designs on January 27th in order to get caught up with my current workload. Anyone looking to place a new order should do so by Sunday.

I will announce when the queue opens back up again. Premade templates will still be available during this time. Thanks for your cooperation!

Behind the Scenes: Custom Header for Bakeaholic Mama

Here's a behind the scenes peek of how a design comes to be! Carrie, over at Bakeaholic Mama to me wanting a new header that incorporated a stand mixer, a lot like the adorable earrings she just got!

So I got out my sketch book, drew a replica of her earring, scanned it in, redrew the vector, and then incorporated it into her new header. It was such a fun project & as a baking-fanatic myself, I was excited to take it on!

Head over to Bakeaholic Mama to see it live and in action!

K& Camera Photography Blog: Latest Design!

I had so much fun working on this latest design over at K&Camera. Kylie had a wonderful vision for her blog and I'm so excited to show you the finished product! This design was a little different style than the ones I had worked on in the past...but I absolutely LOVE it. It's simple, clean, and contemporary and makes her wonderful photography the center of attention.

Her design features simple hovering social media buttons, as well as a social media post footer! Great for business blogs or bloggers looking to network!

Thanks for being so great to work with, Kylie!

And for those who haven't checked out here blog, be sure to stop on over. 

Her photography skills are ahh-mazing!

CLOSED: Free Blog Post Signature Graphic!

Happy New Year everyone! I wanted to pop in and give A BIG thank you to all my 2012 clients & to everyone who has supported this page this year. As a little token of appreciation for all you bloggers out there, all Facebook fans will receive a free blog post signature.

Head on over to my Facebook page to snag yours up!

This special ended 1/15/13. Thanks to everyone who participated!