Re-Design Time!

I recently participated in a blog review swap with some fellow equestrian bloggers and it was incredibly helpful for me. Each review I received was filled with great tips and things to consider about my blog’s design, topics and even writing style. This all came at the perfect time for me because I have been talking to my husband about “re-modeling” my website for a while. This really gave me the push I needed to get going and I finally found a layout I love, with options that I can customize to make it my own. I also decided that my logo probably needs updating. Pretty soon, this evolved into an entire re-branding of See Horse Design.

I started by making some subtle changes to my logo. I love the horse head (did you notice the pencil shaped muzzle?) and wanted to keep that element. However, I wasn’t 100% in love with the font anymore. I don’t hate it, but I wanted to streamline it and go for something a bit more modern. Then I customized the font to make it my own. I have a few new variations, but settled on this one for the main logo. Here’s the before and after…

I decided to keep my colors, but bring in a bit more grey as opposed to the tan from before. And my coral color will be used to accent the black, white and grey throughout the blog.

One of the big themes from the blogger reviews was that I have so much going on and multiple things to offer on the site, it was a little confusing to figure out what I actually do. I’m combining a graphic design business with a lifestyle blog and including an Etsy shop in the mix. I can definitely see how that’s confusing at first. With the new layout, I hope that it conveys up front the three main areas of the site (using the three boxes under the header) and does a better job portraying who I am and what I do.

I also wanted my blog images to really stand out. One of the recommendations I received was to add more and bigger photos, and I love that idea. Instead of stock images, I enlisted my husband (who is very talented behind the camera) to help me take some “stock” photos of my own for the home page. I want the new blog style to have a more personal feel, so we styled a modern portrait of me for the homepage banner that includes a few items to represent my artistic/design side and some equestrian style thrown in with the blazer and snaffle bit bracelet.

Some of the other images feature my workspace along with some of my favorite things: coffee, sketch pad, vintage horse book (Black Beauty) and my sweet puppy, Koda! And a wall from my home office with various objects that I love.

This re-design has inspired me to take more photos and focus on a specific style for the blog going forward. It’s something I really want to improve upon this year and I have a list of post ideas already! I’ve struggled in the past to stay consistent in blogging, but I received such wonderful feed back from the other bloggers and I know I can continue to improve.

I have plans to continue updating each section of the site including my portfolio and adding new items to the shop. I hope you’ll keep visiting and let me know what you think about the changes!