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Alice Priestley: The Empress’s New Look

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Alice Priestley

Alice Priestley is a web designer / front-end developer with a background in book illustration and a serious love of puzzles. Combining original graphics with crafty code, Alice conjures delightful web interactions and a memorable user experience for her one-of-a-kind websites and custom themes. You can check out more of her work at alicepriestley.com.

Some Thoughts from the Designer

When Melissa approached me with her vision for a completely new design for the Empress of Dirt, I knew I was in for some serious fun!

Her exciting wish list included traditional ink-and-watercolour-style illustrations, a sprinkling of quirky animations, and an engaging daisy-crowned pioneer Empress to welcome visitors to the site.

Needless to say, I was in! And what followed was a lively and creative collaboration as we fleshed out the concept and filled in the details.

Just for fun, here are some bits and pieces from the design process…

A portion of my annotated mock-up:annotated mock-up

Inspiration for the Empress — Melissa with her mother and grandmother:Melissa with her mother and grandmother

Melissa: – Animation ideas:

  • Empress writing a letter with parchment paper, pen and ink – to promote the newsletter
  • Empress pushing a wheelbarrow filled with garden art projects
  • Empress wearing a boa which is actually a squash vine… has little squashes or pumpkins dangling down
  • Empress smiling at camera with crown of greenery, bee comes along… flowers sprout from the greens

Alice: – Love all these ideas! This is going to be so much fun!

We tracked progress with cards on a Trello board… âžœ
(There were lots of them!)

And…

bit…

by bit…

…things came together…

When we were all set, the Empress stepped out for a moment, while behind the scenes we quickly transitioned to the new theme:

The Empress will return shortly!

And now here she is — the Empress of Dirt in her brand new look. Be sure to read Melissa’s fascinating account of the history of the blog and her vision for its transformation. I hope you enjoy the site!

~Alice

alicepriestley.com

Alice Priestley: The Empress’s New Look
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Melissa J. Will - Empress of DirtWelcome!
I’m Melissa J. Will a.k.a. the Empress of Dirt (Ontario, Canada).
Join me as I share creative + frugal home & garden ideas with a dash of humor.
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