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!

Custom Blogger Design: Tiffany Leigh Interior Design

Boy do I have a treat for you all today! I got the opportunity to work with Tiffany over at Tiffany Leigh Interior Design to redesign her blog. She came to me knowing exactly what she wanted, but just needed someone to make it come to life. It was so fun to take her vision and create a web presence that portrayed her as the super talented interior designer she is.

Take a look at the final design AND be sure to scroll down to see the sketch she sent me! 

This is the sketch she sent me!

"First impressions count. That's why I decided to invest in a total blog redesign.
I hired Melissa because her rates are fair and her portfolio is stunning.
She was friendly and professional throughout the entire redesign process, even assuring me that I wasn't being a clientzilla (even though I totally was...a nice one though!). I had a clear vision for the design I wanted, and Melissa really brought it to life. I couldn't be more pleased with the final look! 

Since the launch of my redesign, my number of followers and page views has grown considerably. I'm so excited that Melissa has expanded her services and am looking forward to working with her again in the future"

-Tiffany at Tiffany Leigh Interior Design

How fun is that? Making her vision come to life was SO fun. Stop over to her blog and give this budding interior designer some blog love!

-Melissa

Custom Blogger Design: The Daily Tay

Okay, folks. Today's feature blog design was for the oh-so-hilarious Taylor over at The Daily Tay. (Not kidding. This girl is laugh-out-loud funny.)

She came to me wanting a very simple, chic design for her daily lifestyle blog. She already knew she wanted a black, white, and yellow color scheme, so the next step was for me to come up with a way to incorporate these colors into her design.

She also knew she wanted to somehow incorporate images into the header. Many times, my clients know exactly what they want, they just need someone else to make it come to life. So that's where I came in. I love being able to take a simple idea and transform it into a design they can be proud of!

Take a look at the finished product!

"I asked Melissa for a design that was "clean, classy and chic." Low and behold, within just hours of installation I already had comments from readers describing my new layout with those exact words! Melissa magically captured the image I had in my head, and transformed it onto my new blog. Melissa was patient, kind and courteous every time she'd send me a new proof and I found a  little detail or button I wanted her to implement. If my words aren't enough to convince you, I'll let the numbers speak for themselves- literally within the first twelve hours of having my new design live I jumped up about 20 followers. You're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but nobody ever said you can't judge a blog by its design. I would absolutely recommend Melissa to any blogger who is contemplating getting a new design. If you're like me, you're on your blog for numerous hours a day, why not make it looks its very best?"

-Taylor at The Daily Tay

Okay peeps, go over and read her blog! I promise that you will be very entertained. While you're there, check out her header design live and in action!

Custom Blogger Design: Type A Kitchen

This custom blog design over at Type A Kitchen was super fun to work on! Allison came to me wanting to incorporate a cutting board pattern into her design somewhere. I love when the opportunity comes to add photographic elements into designs, and I was excited to see what I could think up. 

I wanted to keep the design very clean, in order to stick with that "Type A" theme. So the challenge was to find a balance between the wood pattern & clean-cut typography. After some thought, I decided to design the navigation bar & sidebar labels to look like the type was engraved into the wood. 

Allison also loved the font "Just Another Hand," so we incorporated it along with the bold serif fonts for the header. 

Check out the final design below!

If you're looking for a blog FULL of recipes & food photography, you need to stop over to her blog! Oh, and while you're there, check out the design in action!

-Melissa

Latest Blog & Logo Design: Edit

Okay people. I have to say that is one of my favorite blog designs of all time! I think mainly because of the color palette these wonderful ladies gave me to work with. Edit is made up of 2 sisters and their mom, who recently started a lifestyle blog based in Kansas City. They are planning to grow their blog into an actual boutique in KC, and needed a logo & blog design to brand themselves for this new venture.

So that's where I came in. They wanted their logo to be simple, yet fun. Something that had a tie to typewriters. I designed their logo to subtly resembler typewriter keys. With this simple logo, they will be able to transfer it over to other materials (like shopping bags & t-shirts!) easily.

"When it was time to get serious about blogging together, we received a great recommendation from Kara's sister-in-law, Elizabeth, who has a local food blog in STL. We were thrilled with Melissa's portfolio and even more thrilled at how reasonably priced she was for the talent we received. She was very accessible and interpreted at our needs and

design perfectly.

We are beyond happy with the outcome of our blog. It's fresh, modern and fun, exactly what we asked for." 

-Melina at Edit

You must go over and check out their blog! They are wildly successful in their business ventures, and you might just see a website design for their latest project coming soon ;)

-Melissa

Custom Blogger Design: Pickle Doodle Designs

This latest design was such a fun one to work on! Pickle Doodle designs is a fun stationery shop, and she wanted her new blog design to go well with that upbeat theme & the style of her products.

For the design, I decided to do a more un-conventional navigation bar in order to keep things light & fun. I also designed the sidebar headers to be of varying fonts, colors, and styles to give the blog some extra flare. 

I love how it turned out. Take a look at the finished product!

She also added on the custom social media footer to her package to connect her social media outlets on every post!

Blogs are great ways to market your Etsy shop. They allow you to update your customers of recent products, as well as directing traffic to your shop! I also do Etsy Branding if you're looking to take your shop to the next level! I'd love to work with you to extend your brand!

Custom Blogger Design: Southern Hospitality

This latest redesign was for the oh'-so-sweet Jordan over at Southern Hospitality. She came to me wanting a new, classy look for her lifestyle blog. Her previous design incorporated a pineapple, and she wanted to carry that on somehow in her new design. I had a lot of fun combining class & a little spunk to create this clean, fun, and crisp design.

"As bloggers we pour a lot of time and personality into our posts. We want the look of our blog to be a representation of ourselves as well, like you would your own home. So, to say I was a difficult customer would be a bit of an understatement. I was slightly vague with what I wanted, second guested myself, and was indecisive. Melissa is so accommodating, focuses on every detail, and truly wants her customers to be happy with the look. I had “shopped” around for a while and I couldn’t find a single design studio that would provide the quality or personalism that Melissa provided for such a great price. She created a one of a kind design that was cohesive from the header to the icons. This is just what I needed to give my blog a new fresh look and bring back a renewed inspiration for my writing."
-Jordan at Southern Hospitality

Thanks for being such a pleasure to work with, Jordan! I hope you're enjoying your new design!

If you're looking for a new blog to read, be sure to stop by and check out her blog!