What do you think of the new website?
(If you’re reading this post through email, click here to see the new site.)
Going into the process, I knew I wanted something bright and cheery – but also whimsical yet modern, and youthful yet grown-up. (Contradictions galore.) It’s taken many months of hard work to get here, and I am so excited with how the design finally turned out! Perhaps one of my favorite parts of the new design is how organized it is:
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For example, the new recipe page is incredible!
A picture of every recipe! Plus there’s a fancy slideshow on the homepage, and the sidebars are much less jumbled now. If you think I managed these feats by myself… you are giving me way too much credit. Allow me to introduce…
Julie Farber from Deluxe Designs.
Julie is amazing; I wish I knew half of what she knows about web design. Julie can design your entire site for you if you don’t want to worry about a thing. In my case, however, I preferred to be very involved, and she was ok with that, too! I drew up elaborate screen shots in Photoshop of exactly what I wanted—right down to the color scheme and layout—and Julie took it all from screen shot to real-time website without crashing anything, which I would certainly have done if I’d attempted it without help. She was patient and non-judgmental, while still offering sage web designer advice. (You can thank her for the fact that there are no giant polka dots on the top of the page: one of my not-so-bright ideas she talked me out of!)
And those beautifully-organized new photo pages I mentioned earlier? All Julie’s work. I can’t tell you how many things I asked for, while being almost positive she’d come back and tell me such things weren’t possible. Yet every time, she instead responded—quite quickly—she’d made the changes. In short, if you need design work for your food blog (or photography blog, company website, etc.), Julie is your girl! EDIT: Julie will give a 15%-off discount to anyone who mentions CCK in his/her inquiry.
Still to come:
1. The heart logo: The header that you see now is an interim thing, so don’t worry if you’re not big on the heart; it’s not staying! I am not big on it either. I’m a perfectionist and haven’t been able to come up with the perfect logo yet, so I quickly designed this shutterstock-esque heart logo to stand in. The rest of the new design was ready, and I just didn’t want to wait any longer!
2. We’ll probably be making more minor adjustments in the next few days, so give the site a little time to adjust. And Julie is working on perfecting the mobile version of the website as well.
The site looks great….I can’t wait to scroll through your recipes again (and again!!). Congrats and continued thanks for the great recipes and information!! Jill
Absolutely adorable. And personally, I do love the chocolate heart!! I think I owuld have liked the polka dots also!! Modern, whimsical and fun!! Good job.
Katie, you and Julie did SUCH a nice job on the website re-design! One thing (not a criticism, just a note!) I liked from the previous recipe page was when you included that the item was a ‘reader fav’. It sometimes helped me decide whether or not to try it out for myself!
Also, I just wanted to let you know that I had just started following your blog last year when I decided to try to go egg/dairy-free (I’m already vegetarian). Your website has been such a godsend in helping me transition, because I have such a love for chocolate and sweets. 🙂 I really look forward to your posts and thank you for sharing your love for chocolate and recipes with me. I’ve even enjoyed going to the old posts and reading them as well!
LOVE the design!
I have had a hard time getting it to work on my smartphone or kindle though. Has anyone else experienced this problem?
The new design is really nice. Fun and appealing design and a clear message. Well done!
Annika
I love your website!! I even like the chocolate heart!! lol But seriously, I’m new to this site and have spent the last three days just pouring over your blog. I’m truly addicted!! Thanks for all you do to make this site so absolutely wonderful and delicious!!
Looks fabulous. And SO your spirit. Congrats!
It’s nice in the browser, but much harder to use on the phone than before.
As long as you stay you, I will be happy with whatever web design you come up with! Although I am rather partial to this one 🙂
I personally love the little heart! The chocolate dripping down the letters of your name is so perfect. I’m a girl after your own heart… i love all things chocolate! Great job!!!