live. breathe. design.

today i launched 3 new mother’s day cards in my etsy shop, including the one pictured in the top right. inspired by 1950s retro packaging for “lip-cote” this retro card features a retro mom, and the saying “my mom was right about everything” inside reads “someday, i will be too. happy mother’s day.”

why not pair this mothers day greeting card with one of these great items from the etsy homespunsociety team? these gifts were hand selected as the perfect gifts to pamper mom with this year! gifts from top left: My Mother Was Right About Everything Greeting Card, Cranberry Fig Goats Milk Soap,  Silver Infinity Ring, Handmade Pink Loop Stitch Purse, Retro Pink Necklace, and Honey Vanilla Natural Lip Balm.

more hand selected items can be seen here in this etsy treasury and on pinterest.

your brand says a lot about who you are as a seller. you want your shop banner and profile pic to effectively convey your work or your message.

i recently had the privilege of working with fellow etsian and Homespun Society member, Kornelia of Made by Sunflower, on her shop brand. Kornelia creates beautiful, and very detailed handmade jewelry. she wanted a banner and profile pic that accurately reflected her product.

BEFORE:

you will note that the banner shows off her jewelry and also has a font that is elegant to coordinate with the style of Kornelia’s jewelry. one thing that i noticed here, and you see in a lot of banners is a size issue. banners are tiny (760 px x 100 px), this limits the details and font sizes you can use. the pieces of jewelry shown are beautiful examples of Kornelia’s work, however having the whole piece of jewelry pictured forces the image to be so small that it does not show off all of the beautiful details that make her jewelry so unique and beautiful. additionally you find the same problem with the font, in particular the tag line, it’s size and background imagery make it difficult to read.

AFTER:

you will note that here we are still showing off her gorgeous jewelry, however by doing a detail shot you can really see all of the intricate work and beauty of the metals and stones together. here we still used an elegant font that compliment her jewelry, but in this case, we used it only on the main word of her shop title. this allows for it to be larger and more readable. having a complimenting font for the other words adds interest and allows for more space, making everything easier to view. the tagline is still printed in a small font, though now it is on a completely white/solid background which allows for it to be more legible.

we have also made a profile pic too coordinate with her banner, which you can see in the bottom left of the after photo. essentially whenever Kornelia is talking to someone on Etsy, they are receiving a subtle, but constant reminder of of her brand.

coordinating that imagery between your banner and profile pic, along with all of the social media you use to promote your shop, your email signatures, business cards packaging and invoicing, is a key part of creating a top of mind presence and a successful brand.

thank you so much to Kornelia for letting me use her shop for this comparison. please make sure to visit her shop to view her gorgeous selection of jewelry. great for a gift or a lovely piece for yourself

you can also “like” her business on Facebook and follow her on twitter. (and take a peak at how we coordinated these pages as well!)

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I offer both branding and shop design, some samples of my branding work can be seen on my website.

there is just something about handwriting a note to someone that is so much more special than an email or a Facebook message. trust me, i love technology, it has so many benefits, but I still wouldn’t trade it for paper. (i try to be as eco-friendly as possible, don’t get me wrong here!)

to help you make your notes a bit more personal, i am adding return address seals to my shop this week. combining the envelope seal and return address label into one piece, gives your greeting a personal but modern touch!

this new product got me thinking about the type of tools and items used for correspondence, present and past. pictured above you will see some great vintage items from fellow etsy Homespun Society members. From top left clockwise: Retro Return Address Seals, Teal Blue Royal Custom III Typewritter, 1930s Colorful Paper Emphemera, and Vintage Pencil Leads.

more great correspondence pieces can be seen in this treasury on etsy and on pinterest, too!

also new to the shop, buffalo envelope seals.