So let’s talk about websites. As graphic designers – talking primarily print here – we spend a lot of time making really beautiful art that can be hung on walls, printed in magazines, embroidered on polos, or foil stamped on business cards. We make a lot of work in a digital age for a lot of analog applications. For a print designer, getting our work online always seemed like a necessary evil; and a popular necessary evil at that- so much so that Behance did something about it for us. So did Squarespace. Dribbble didn’t try to be, but has become an uncanny solution, too. And those are great for portfolios, but what if you don’t need just a portfolio? What if you want to bedazzle a potential employer with something other than the 20th Behance link they’ve seen today? What if you want a blog, an ecommerce shop to sell your sweet designs, or what if your mom called in a favor for you to make a website for your great aunt Sue’s cake business? We might not be programmers or considered web designers, but we’re smart enough to know we have options. Cue in WordPress: one solution for everything. This is the first video in what will become (what I’m predicting will be) a 3 part video series on how to get your own kick ass wordpress website up from start to finish. This first video goes over everything to look for when picking out the right wordpress website theme for your purpose (be it a blog, ecommerce, portfolio, etc). Read on for all of the tips + tricks I use when getting started.
Small disclaimer: I’ve found Themeforest to be the best place to find the most reliable WordPress themes, so my tips for choosing the right theme are focused there for this tutorial. Another alternative worth checking out is Creative Market – be sure you’re looking at WordPress items only though, search results can sometimes be mixed.
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Iris | April 7, 2015
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How timely! I’ve been playing around with the idea of starting a blog, and have been looking at themes. Now I know that aesthetics isn’t the only consideration in picking a theme. Thanks, Teela.
TeelaC | Author | April 8, 2015
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Awesome! So happy to hear 🙂 Looking forward to checking it out when it’s up!
Dwiana | April 8, 2015
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Love your info here!! question, in order to buy a template from let say themeforest do you have to have domain? or just simply sign up with wordpress? Thank you so much!!
TeelaC | Author | April 8, 2015
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You can buy one without a domain, but in order to use it you’ll have to get a domain + hosting – I’ll go over all the technical stuff on getting the theme online in next week’s video 🙂 Thanks for watching!
gloria | July 29, 2015
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Hi, I work as a freelance journalist – photographer, but my education background is in fashion design, so I have NO idea what to put on my website. I know I should have a website so people can find my work and contact me, but I feel like I’d be lying if I promote myself as a journalist when my college degree says fashion design. So I am pretty much stuck trying to find the perfect website that would convey that I write and take pictures, but really I studied fashion. Plus I would like to have a Youtube channel-blog about books and beauty. So it seems that I need a Multiple Personality website. Do you happen to know anything that fits into that description?
Teela | Author | July 29, 2015
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Hey Gloria!
The best advice I have for someone who has a large skillset is to only use your portfolio to show the work you want to do. If fashion is in the past, don’t focus on it! If your dream is to work as a freelance journalist/photographer, that’s all that should be in your portfolio. You could talk about your background in fashion on your about page, but that’s it. If your portfolio is looking a little bare, make up projects! I got my first job out of college with a portfolio filled with fictitious clients. As far as your YouTube channel, I would say focus on one thing at a time, then move on to the next. Trying to juggle too many things in different areas won’t make anything stand out in the end. I hope that helps!
gloria | July 29, 2015
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Thank you so much for your advice!