The Studio 1862 blog is for new designers and small businesses. Here, I share personal experiences and knowledge I've collected from being in this industry for 10 years. Stick around for actionable advice or sign up for my newsletter & access to my Free Resources!
Holy smokes, you guys! When something is this good, you don't keep it to yourself; you share it!
I don't know if I've been living under a rock, or what, but I'd never heard of this company until a few months ago. I'm scratching my head now, trying to figure out what the heck took me so long to move forward!?
Today, I'm going to walk you through how to use a new heading font in Squarespace. Whether you're new to SS, or you've been around a while, you've probably noticed there's only 3 Heading font options in your Text Block. I don't know about you, but sometimes I just need 1 more! And not just one more static option, but one that's changeable as needed.
Nowhere that I've ever seen, does the Style Editor offer you 1 more font choice for the headings, and even if it did, it would be a static choice that can't change per use, depending on where you want to use it. So how do you go about getting another one? You use the Markdown Block.
What is that, by the way? It's just another way of writing in more customized text. It's more customizeable than the Text Block and it does use a little code, but don't let that scare you away!
I'm going to paste it in here for you, and tell you which parts to edit. And if you're afraid you'll mess up your entire site by "coding it wrong," then don't worry! Anything you put in Markdown will not effect the rest of your site, it only effects what you put inside that block. So if you do it, and you don't like it, just delete that block, or erase the content inside that block's edit window, and start over. No harm, no foul!
TIP: Go ahead and open up a new document in Word (or Pages) so you can paste in the code I'm giving you. That way you can refer back to it easily later on, AND you can paste in your own Markdown language there to grab later. That will keep you from having to recreate it every time!
Today my advice is a little more personal. Today I want you to decide to stop letting your fear of failure get in the way of your success.
Look, I know. If you're reading this, you're probably thinking, "But I'm not afraid? I have real, legitimate struggles to overcome before I can do anything at all."
I wholeheartedly disagree, and here's why!
Having a good Instagram bio is so important, and for businesses, having a link in the bio is KEY.
As you go along throughout the year though, you may find that you are changing out your URL as needed, linking to a sales page for a new launch, or changing to your shop page when you have a sale, etc.
When your audience gets nosey, and they likely will (I do!), they'll scroll through your whole gallery if they are really that interested (and have the time). What happens if they stumble upon a post from a year ago that refers to a URL "link in bio!" that is no longer there?? Oops!
Aside from that, in business it's always good to have more than 1 option available to you.
Today I'm going to teach you the simplest of How To's. A 5-minute step that will give you more control over that URL, and put more links in your Instagram Bio.
I should've written a blog about this months ago! It's my favorite advice to share, really.
As a freelancer myself, I know we're always looking for tools that will do everything we need, all in one place, without shaving off large chunks from our profit margin as we grow and scale our businesses.
So, when I came across a podcast about this free resource where several things could be handled all in one place, for less than $20/mo, my interest was piqued.
AND the best part? The company was formed by freelancers, FOR freelancers (of all kinds). They've also expanded since then, offering additional services now than they had available even just a few months ago!
Ever add a new element on your site, only to realize it doesn't match the style of your brand or your website? On Squarespace, HOW DO you make the most out of your Style Editor?? How do you catch those little things? And why didn't you see them before?
To get the most out of your Squarespace site, you’ve gotta really dig into that Style Editor page. But what you may not realize? The editor won't allow you to style some things that aren't on the page you’re viewing when you enter the Style Editor!
So today’s Squarespace Tip will walk you through setting up a Style Guide page, to help you get the most out of your Style Editing!
If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you’ve probably seen some of my old KDD branding (Katelyn Dekle Designs) at the bottom of my gallery. It was simple, clean, and not really representative of me at all, except for the name (though I do love the color teal).
So when I decided to rebrand as Studio1862 in November, I also looked into moving my website for various reasons, and decided to do it all at once.
Why did I want to switch platforms? Here’s my list of pros & cons for BOTH Squarespace & Weebly.
When a client has come in to peer over my shoulder and watch me make a quit change to their art, they pause, seeming fascinated with whatever I’m doing, or waiting to see how I make the changes they asked for. Then they’ll say something like: “I could never do that,” or “Sitting at a computer all day would drive me crazy,” or “That is so cool!”
Hearing other people’s perspective is fascinating to me, whether a seemingly negative statement, or a compliment on my skill set. I absolutely love what I do, and it’s frankly funny to hear a client who may be a farmer or a owner of an accounting firm, or whoever they may be, come in and say they couldn’t do my job, because I absolutely can’t imagine doing anything else (including, probably, whatever they do for a living too)!
I love what I do! Plain & simple; and I’m going to share how I came to decide on this career field, and 8 reasons why I love it.
I've been using Adobe products for years now (all versions since Ai 10, up to the current Creative Cloud). I learned a lot in my college education, and even more through experience working in the field for last 10 years, but these programs are so large and expansive that I still find I'm learning new things about the Adobe software!
When you've been using something for a long time and you learn something new and useful about it, it's exciting; and that's why I'm sharing these tips with you today!
We're all SO busy these days! If you're keeping up with the trends then you haveto cook the perfect healthy meal with that new "superfood" ingredient, or complete this particular workout, or go take this particular class, or whatever the latest trend may be.
You may have kids and a full time job on top of it. Maybe you work at home full time, or have a 9 to 5, and then work nights & weekends on your side-hustle (whatever that may be).
No matter the details, there's still every day tasks to do (like cooking, cleaning, yardwork, etc.) on top of maintaining a home life and keeping up with tasks at work. There's also the added task of not totally ignoring your S.O. or your friends and family while you work your little butt off!
So, who doesn't want a few apps that can make life a little easier?
These are my Top 3 Tips for a Smoother start to the Design Process (they also happen to be pet peeves, just because they tend to be such time-sucks).
I've included a FREE CHECKLIST at the end too! It lists the types of files designers work with and what file formats to send us for certain types of documents when we ask you for them during a project.
These 3 points are essentially just tips to help the design process start moving along more smoothly. It will honestly SAVE each of you (designer + client) loads of TIME, if you both can avoid doing these three things when you start each project! Okay, here we go!
I get why people do it: they're usually free, or very cheap and people who use them typically don't have a designer on staff to set up new business cards, etc.. A lot of templates even look pretty good at first glance (depending on where you get the template from, of course)!
So, if they're free/cheap, easy to use, and built into whatever company you're ordering the product from, then why shouldn't you be using them?
Grab my FREE fillable workbook! There, I will walk you through all the basic information and questions to help you narrow it down (a very important step to take, before working with a designer, like myself). Print it out & write it in, or fill it out on your computer.
