Arise Designs Website: Style

Next on the “Let’s Create A Website’ list was defining an overall style.  What did I want the jewelry collections to convey?  What kind of atmosphere?  Previously my displays were experiments with lots of predictable ‘seasonal styles’ in my jewelry cases including the usual Fall, Christmas, Valentines Day, or yearly celebrations like Mother’s and Father’s Day, which are so overdone in retail today.  Anyone can see that approach immediately in any big box store or chain.  I wanted to find my look.  Bethany had sent me a couple of ideas in the form of style-boards which conveyed how jewelry might look on a page.  I began to get a sense of what might happen and especially liked the closeups of the jewelry with texture, color and sometimes words as a foundation.

It made sense for Arise Designs to focus in on a few avenues like handmade, a fresh perspective, a personal touch, meaningful words, the Bible (since most of my work is inspired by faith), and on things I love, like nature and color.  Not wanting to look like a jewelry store, bead store or craft fair, but rather like a quality catalog showing creative handmade product and fresh ideas.  So the hunt began for props which would bring this vision to life.  It was an adventure as items were collected and I practiced learning how to see through the camera, and how to capture the essence of my pieces.  What an invigorating creative and learning process, and so much more in depth than anticipated.  During this exercise I learned what ignited more energy and what did not work, as each step of the process helped inform the next, and the decision making process progressed.

Click on Downtown Photo Shoot to see how many of the materials above were used for the rotating photo’s which will be on the Arise Designs home page.

That’s all for now, but next post I’ll be back with Arise Designs: Content & Look.  Until then, have a creative week and allow yourself time to ask questions, seek answers and find your style, no matter what your area of interests are.  Explore your passion and be original!

{images: Laurie Ashbach}

Arise Designs Website: Branding

It’s been a long time coming, but the site is almost live!

I wanted to take you behind the scenes to look at what it took to create a website for Arise Designs jewelry.  We, the Vine & Branches artists, had been showing our work consistently in the ten years the store was open in the St. Paul suburbs.   They were invaluable years of learning that brought a loyal following to all the artists we represented.  The only problem was lack of time to devote to building up and defining my personal jewelry business, with all the responsibilities and costs of running the store.   Many new pieces were created during those years, but there was not a cohesive branding of my body of work.  Now that the store was closed, I had time to build my brand.   The past three years have been filled to the brim with defining myself, researching, organizing, making decisions, and learning how to create a brand and have an online presence.

With the invaluable help of Bethany at b*spoke, who knew my style and my work, we set off to create a cohesive brand.  Designing the logo was first on the agenda, followed by creating the basic business necessities.

I fell in love with the first one.  Isn’t it wonderful?

With the logo decided, the cards, letter head and envelopes were designed and printed.  And as long as we were at it, we simplified the Vine & Branches Gallery logo as well, which was the store which represented around 90 artists and where my jewelry was sold, that I had opened in November 1998.

Next post we’ll get into how the website developed from an inspiration board designed by Beth.  See you soon!

Arise Designs Website Sneak Peek

Here is a sneak peek into the creative process of building my website.  I’ve been working with Bethany Hway of b*spoke, to make a dream come alive, and to have a home for my many lines of jewelry.  Remember the Downtown Photo Shoot from a couple of months ago?  That was the beginning photography for the first 8 Arise Designs Collections.  What follows are proofs of the various pages that will make up my new website, just for my jewelry.  It is sooooo exciting to actually see this project coming together.  While much work remains before the site is up and running, we are well on our way to having a beautiful site which is able to tell the whole story of each jewelry collection.  This has been a dream of mine since I started Arise Designs in 1998, and now is the time.  Actually it’s God’s timing and I am thankful to be able to share the journey with you.  Enjoy!

The main homepage:

The main Collections page:

The individual Collections will have their own pages, showing all the different styles of jewelry:

The individual piece page, where you will actually be able to purchase the piece of jewelry.

Thanks for taking a look.  I can’t wait to show you the final results.

Thanks to Bethany Hway, Josh Hway, Delaney! Photography, and Nicole Uphoff, Photo stylist.