Lilac Creative

I love my job for a hundred different reasons, but definitely one of the best things about what I do is getting to meet and work with so many amazing clients. People come to me with these great ideas for their online business, and I get to use my particular creative abilities to help them make their business ideas a reality. I'm always inspired by the passion and innovation my clients bring to the table, and that's what ultimately gets my creative juices flowing in order to create the site that is just right for them. The websites I create are a result of creative collaboration between me and my client, and I love that!

Last month I had the pleasure of launching a site redesign for one of my very first clients, Erin McMillen of www.myurbansuburban.com. When she hired me in the summer of 2008, shortly after I had launched Lilac Creative, she had this great idea to start a lifestyle blog for the Fraser Valley in British Columbia. Her business vision was spot on: start out with a basic blog about various things to do and see, places to shop and eat, etc. in her area, and down the road add other resources to that site, like a local business directory, photo gallery, even advertising spots for local businesses. 

The original design we came up with was very clean and simple: 
 

This summer, Erin was ready to give her site an overhaul in order to develop her budding business' brand a little further and add functionality and easier navigation to her blog. The design is still clean, simple and open, but features full branding, ad spots and a photo gallery.

I get totally excited about all the projects that I get to be a part of, but when Erin hired me for her redesign it was a special honor to be given the opportunity to be a continuing part of her business' growth. I loved seeing how far she had taken her original idea, and getting a glimpse into her vision for the future of her site. Congrats on over a year of being an Urban Suburban, Erin!  

I love to customize and personlize everything; I always have (and it's a big reason I got into web design in the first place). If it's paper, I doodle on it. If it's wood, I paint it. If it's electronics, I look for unique skins or cases. When I got my very first Mac earlier this year, I Googled skins for Macs, which brought up and endless array of skins and decals. But one of the things I loved about my MacBook Pro was it's simple, sleek silver case, and I was reluctant to cover that up entirely (as most of the skins I found would have done). And then I came across Gabby and Tal's shop on Etsy. I immediately fell in love with Gabby's graphics, especially the organic swirls of her Flora decal for Macs (or any other computer/size you specify). I ordered it and then spent two weeks stalking my mailman (Gabby and Tal are in Tel Aviv, so shipping to the States takes a while). I was SO excited when this finally arrived the other day:

I LOVED the super cute packaging, and the hand-written note (personal touches like that give me warm fuzzies)! I just had to photo it. Then I busted out my decal, and followed the application instructions. Just like they said, it was SUPER easy to apply, and how stellar does this look?!

And what's more, she sent along a couple of mini extras that I applied to the inside of my Mac:

Conclusion: My Mac is now customized in a way that is totally me, all thanks to Gabby's awesome decals! If you're looking for a cool way to dress up your Mac (or your toilet or stockings, for that matter) or you're into cool & unique silver jewelry, check out Gabby & Tal on Etsy! Awesome designs from people who love what they do!