This has been quite a long time in the making and it’s still a work in progress, but it’s about time that I let this little project break cover and enter the online world for real.
As you may recall, I worked with Matt Freedman to create a whole new look for this blog. Part of it had to do with updating the overall appearance, but it also had a little to do with branding as well. Well, we’ve taken the virtual paintbrush to my freelance writing site as well.
As many of you may already know, I am a freelance writer and that is how I choose to make my living. The first design for my freelance writing services website was doctored up by me in Dreamweaver and it was a mess of frames and ugliness. Lesley Chang was nice enough to volunteer her services to create a new MichaelKwan.com with a bunch of CSS-based goodness. It was a vast improvement and I used that design for a couple of years.
In an effort to maintain consistent branding, I asked Matt if it were possible to modify the Beyond the Rhetoric theme so that it could work to market my freelance writing services. A few minor alterations and tweaks later, we are proud to reveal the new site. You can find it at freelance.michaelkwan.com. Alternatively, you can go to MichaelKwan.com and click on the link for freelance writing services. That online business card is pretty great. (Matt made that for me too.)
You’ll notice that the theme for my freelance writing site shares many similarities with Beyond the Rhetoric. I still have the ability to use a custom background. The red stripe at the top of the content area is still there and the header image has a transparent background. There are some notable differences too, of course. The sidebar, ad placements, comment form, and Flickr photostream have all been removed.
What do you think? I intend on adding a relevant image to a few of the pages, like my portrait on the main page, but what other suggestions or feedback do you have?
Aw, thanks for the mention, even though that site is YEARS old. The new site looks great! Glad you kept the logo 😀
I still appreciate the work you did so many moons ago, but it was definitely time for an update. I still dig the logo, though I had it altered a little so that it’s just the MK and not MichaelKwan.com in the coffee ring.
Excellent look Michael. Very compelling with a pleasant, easy to read design.
Nothing extreme but it has a very professional feel to it. Nice job!
I think it looks nice too. I like the background. I hope you keep future backgrounds along the same lines so that it ties into the writing.
Extremely amazing. A freelance writer and an editor rooled into one?! Absolutely genius! We are on the same field of job, freelance writing. Wish you could post your tips on how to do it alone. Thanks!