Inward Iris
Note: This is an ongoing project and this page will be edited from time to time.
Last updated: 10/5/21
Alexis Frost is a writer and one of my classmates when I was an undergrad. She needed a blog to house her movie and book reviews and her writing portfolio at large.
Skills
- UX Design, Editing, Branding, Consulting, Web Design
programs
- Wordpress, Canva
brand aesthetic
- Trans Flag, Whimsical, Artsy
The Client
Alexis Frost is a trans woman I went to college with. She saw my blog and wanted one of her own to house her movie reviews, book reviews, her general thoughts, and her writing portfolio. She came up with the name “Inward Iris” and most of her bio and copy but she also needed someone to format, edit and help her run the blog.
Goals
Design a blog from WordPress Premade themes
Create a personal brand that encompasses Alexis’s gender identity and her artistic style.
Editing and upkeep of blog and brand.
She wanted her brand to be focused on her trans identity. She also didn’t have a large budget and didn’t want to be self-hosted for her blog right now so I was limited to WordPress premade themes and no coding.
I originally designed her blog in early 2020, but after taking some UX and design concept classes I redesigned it in the summer of 2021 as I realized some things I wasn’t happy with in the original design. Alexis has been a great friend in letting me design and experiment outside of my own brand.
creative choices
mood board
Typography
I wanted Alexis’ typography to have an artsy typewriter style to fit her critical writing style and fiction writing background.
Colors
We chose colors based off of the transgender flag but I muted them a bit to keep it from feeling too juvenile with bright colors.
Photography
Process & Challenges
Because Alexis didn’t want her website to be self hosted I was limited with what I could do. The good news was we just needed a blog, bio and portfolio to get her up and running. I used basic UX Web Design concepts to come up with a clean look that fit her personal brand and style.
I also update the website, edit her content, and create graphics on a regular basis. I also give her consulting and strategic plans to grow her site and how to market her content to her personal social media pages.
results
I gave Alexis a clean blog she can build from. Her views rose by 12% from December 2020 to October 2021 which is pretty good for a hobby blog. She doesn’t post consistently which is something that would help her grow but from a design perspective it’s much more legible and easy to navigate than the first one I designed.
I also edit her blog, help her with graphics, and update on a regular basis and I provide her basic consulting to make sure her work is getting read and that she has a solid foundation to grow when she’s ready to.
Her site can be found here: https://inwardiris.wordpress.com/
Site
Graphics
Blog Posts
12%
increase in overall website page views over a year
633%
increase in blog post engagement over a year
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