Last month, I had the honor of working with my buddy Chris Johnson on creating a custom Showit site for his photography business. My aim was to create web presence that spoke to who he was in an authentic and innovative way and was a clear expression of his brand. With inspiration from J. Crew and Restoration Hardware, hours of conversations with Chris, some j. shipley design goodness, and the power of Showit, we were able to create something that truly represents Chris Johnson Photography. Bam.

THE PROCESS
The very first thing I do with all of my clients is listen and of course ask a ton of questions. What inspires you? Where do you shop? Where do you wish you could shop? What books do you read? What music do you like? What’s your favorite color? What colors do you hate? What do you do in your free time? How would you describe your personality? etc. My goal here is to learn as much about you as possible as to get a sense of who you are. Then, I ask for visual inspiration…magazine tear sheets, textures, photos, architecture, furniture, typography, graphic treatments, and the like. In short, I’m collecting data from which I will create an inspiration board and from that scheme a design concept.

So we did just that, and here’s the inspiration board that resulted…

THE SCOPE
Chris’s website design included concept and design, implementation into a Showit site, and logo design.

THE ARTIST
Chris is a Hawaii born-and-raised photographer with an adventurous spirit and commitment to living life in a laid-back, enjoy-the-simple-things kinda of way. You can’t help but slow down a bit and simply take a deep breath when you’re around him. I like that about him. He’s appreciates the simple, the understated, the clean, the calm. This come across in his work and in his life. And therefore we wanted to infuse his website with this vibe.

THE WEBSITE
The site included custom features such as scrolling galleries, interactive about section, facebook comment integration.

So there you have it. Want one? I know you do. 🙂 Well, fortunately for you, I’m taking on a select few web design projects this year, so shoot me an email at jeff@jshipleyphotography.com if you want to chat. I’d love to hear from you.