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Whatever niche or genre your website falls into, whether it is a personal project, or part of a business venture, you will be competing against numerous other websites for precious traffic and attention in the online space. While it is now possible for anyone who wants to make a website to do so, actually mastering the art of web design is a much more difficult task.
Even once you’ve learned the nuts and bolts of it all and you understand how to put the website together, you still need to work out how you are going to make it unique and appealing. If your website looks and feels just like your competitors, how are you going to distinguish yourself? Even if you produce better content than your rivals, if you can’t step out of their shadow in terms of your design, your business will stand out as lacking innovation.
The good news is that by adopting a few relatively simple design principles and practices, you can effortlessly produce websites which manage to maintain the standards that internet users have come to expect, while also being unmistakably unique to you.
The easiest and quickest way to mark a webpage as your own is to make sure that your business logo and name are prominently visible. Remember, just because they are prominent does not mean that they have to be huge and take up the whole page. An eye-catching design will draw the eye even if it isn’t the largest thing on display.
There are endless possible ways of laying out your website. Different types of websites will benefit from different design principles and practices, so think carefully about what you want to show the user and how you can most effectively show it.
Note that there is an important difference between good content and unique content. Content that is unique is not necessarily good, and vice-versa. This is why it is important for you to be producing original and unique content that will also be of interest to the target demographic of your website.
For example, if you run a website for history buffs, you could throw in an article about the most famous thieves in history.
Affiliating with another website means that you will both advertise one another’s existence to your respective visitors for your mutual benefit. Affiliate marketing is an excellent way of building up a network of contacts and other, friendly websites. You never know when these people might be able to help you in the future.
Proofreading is a critically important step in the writing process. This is essentially where you check your work for any spelling or grammar mistakes. Just as you would when visiting another website, visitors to your site will expect everything to be written correctly and for the work to have been checked for mistakes.
Designing a website is easy, getting it noticed amongst all the competition is the difficult bit. At every stage of your website design and building process, ask yourself how you can put your personal flair on it. Just make sure not to overly complicate your design.
Nichole Kirk, Founder, Dear Heart Designs
Dear Heart Designs Founder, Nichole Kirk, has a beautiful note to the recipient with her jewelry. It starts with, “Dear Beautiful You, I hoped you smiled when you opened this package, or happy cried, or took a walk down memory lane”. It ends with “I hope for an amazing journey for you and your piece together as you travel through this amazing beautiful life.”
There are more beautiful and kind words but I’ll leave those for you to find out when you get your Dear Heart Designs piece.
From the website I quote Nichole as saying, “Our pieces are meant to create moments in which you can share your real and raw testimony with another. We believe that being vulnerable opens up doors for other’s to know Jesus.”
I will only describe one piece of Dear Heart jewelry to you today as I am sure you will love to wander through the site and find something you love.
Showered in Blessings Necklace
The necklace design that I love is called “Showered in Blessings” ($54). It’s a Dear Heart original, sweet, pretty and simple, with a powerful message. The delicate textured circle represents the world we live in with the crystal representing us shining bright within it as Jesus calls us to do. The hand crafted necklace includes a 14kt gold filled, textured hollow drop set onto an 18″ chain with a clear swarovski crystal inside of it.
Written on the card the necklace is displayed is a Bible verse from EZEKIAL , “ I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing.”
Nichole’s mission is, “To have God’s light shine through our pieces and customers and spark conversation with strangers with the hope that somebody who did not know Jesus before that moment, can hear about Him and find His love.”
Dear Heart Designs warm my heart and touch my soul. Thank you Dear Nichole.
Styling mousse first came on the scene back in the 80’s when big hair was the thing. Janet Jackson and Whitney Houston were the ladies who set the hair trends back then. I’m sure if you see pictures of your mom from the 80’s, you will see the waterfall bangs and curls that were teased, fried and crunchy. It was a cool look then. It’s not cool now. Hair styles and the products we use have changed over the decades.
Maya Smith, International Master of Natural Curls and founder of The Doux®, a haircare line she created specifically for naturally curly hair, has seen the evolution of mousse from the very beginning to now. We caught up with Maya and scored some amazing tips and insights to help you know which ingredients to look for and how to best use mousse to maximize your modern style.
Q: First to get things clear, what is the purpose of mousse? How has it changed from when you first saw it back in the day? What is the main difference from the mousse we see today and those from the 80’s and 90’s? Were they intended for different kinds of styles, textures?
A: When I started in the industry, the 90’s hair was in full effect. Naturally curly girls used mousse to create the Hillary Banks (Fresh Prince of Bel Air) “wet” look. For volume a diffuser was used to get hair to stand up at the roots. The visual results were awesome, but if you tried to re-style your hair once it dried, you were in big trouble! While it was used on curly weaves, extensions, and wigs, mousse wasn’t even an option for girls with super-tight curls or kinky textures. These days, mousse is still used to achieve great definition and shine, but less emphasis is placed on how high your hair stands up, or how stiff the overall look is. It’s much more about softness and movement.
Q: What are some ingredients to look for? What’s good and what should be avoided?
A: Always be sure to look at the ingredients when shopping for products because this can make a big difference. Ingredients such as sodium laurel sulfate (SLS), Isopropyl, and Prolyene have been found to cause breakage and dry out your hair. The best way to achieve healthy hair is to have that balance between protein and moisture.
Q: What causes that crunch and what were some of the problems with the mousse options available that inspired you to create your own? Can mousse be combined with other products? What are the benefits of combining products and steps?
A: It’s common for mousse to be combined with gel or cream because most mousses on the market contain alcohol to make the hair dry faster. They are also polymer rich, which creates a sticky coating on the hair, much like a hairspray. This can leave hair feeling dry and stiff. We formulated our Mousse Def as an all-in-one solution for this problem. It creates the shine and definition of a mousse, yet leaves hair soft and touchable with no flaking.
Q: How does mousse compare to gels and balms? Are gels a thing of the past? Can a balm be used in place of a mousse?
A: Mousse and gels are water-based products that contain polymers and holding agents that “stiffen” on the hair shaft in order to hold the hair in place. On the other hand, balms, pomades, and control pastes are what we call emulsions, are a mix of oils and water. The Doux’s Bonita Afro Balm is an emulsion developed for moisture and softness that also contains a small amount of polymer for a softer, more flexible hold.
Q: Finally, are Salon or Professional brands worth the money? Do they contain better ingredients?
A: Yes. Products that were formulated for salon use typically contain a higher quality of ingredients. They also contain less water and fillers, so you’re getting a more concentrated product with longer-standing results.
Q: What other advice can you offer to girls with natural curls who want to mix up their hair styles?
A: Try something new. Gone are the days when heavy pomades and gels were your only styling options. Girls who have natural curls deserve to enjoy lighter products that are easy to apply, and create bounce and movement. Maximizing your natural God given hair is what’s popular now.
About Maya Smith:
Maya Smith is an International Master Stylist and Founder of The Doux Salon and haircare line now available in Target. With over two decades of styling experience Maya dedicated two decades to cracking the code on curl care, maintenance and expert styling. When it comes to caring for one’s natural hair and styling it, according to NaturallyCurly, Maya is among the best there is.
While still in high school, Maya got her hair cutting license and graduated from beauty school. Soon after graduating high school, Maya began following her passion and worked as an assistant for celebrity stylist Tracy Johnson. She learned from Johnson and progressed as a hair stylist for celebrities and entertainers. Years later the military wife would relocate to Germany, where Maya opened up her first salon The HoneyComb, a mecca for textured hair care for women from all over Europe, The UK, and as far as Africa. Maya’s unique system of textured hair styling sparked the development of The DOUX® haircare products, first launched overseas, and distributed throughout Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands.
Currently, Maya leads a carefully selected team of stylists at The DOUX® Salon in Macon, Georgia and celebrated the arrival of The DOUX® in select Target stores nationwide. Maya Smith, wife, mom of 5 and savvy business woman is an example not just for women of color but for all women who believe their gifts can impact the world, striving for entrepreneurial endeavors with grace, ease and hustle.
Nuest Cosmetics Jelly Highlighters
Good Day Charlotte is always a great show to do. Page Fehling is always a joy to work with. This past Tuesday we highlighted products from Diva by Cindy, Vera Moore Cosmetics, Luk Beautifood, BioSilk and Nuest Cosmetics. See you back at Good Day Charlotte Soon!
Belli Beauty Anti Blemish Facial Wash
