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I took IMC in the Fall of 2024, and I was a content creator for the Merriman Financial Literacy Program. Aside from my duties in that role, I also had some personal projects included in the class, for example, this entire website. I remember being stressed out when I needed to develop my website and didn't know where to start. I cover topics to help you get started with developing your website and to make it your own! If you find this blog relatable to you, share with your community! Most Likely other people are struggling with the same issues!
One of the most important pieces of your personal website is to decide on your brand colors. They have to stay consistent throughout your entire website and if you have colors that either don’t look good or even have a poor representation of you, it will impact your website. My recommendation is to start with your favorite color (or multiple), mine is blue. I went with blue mainly because that color has been an important repeater in my life and it's also my favorite to wear. After you have that, search up “___ color palettes” and browse the web! A website that helped me select my brand colors was ‘Coolors’. They give you free HEX codes that make it easy for you to select your brand colors effectively, swiftly, and most importantly FREE.
Brand elements also need to remain consistent with the development of your website. If you have some sort of animal, shape, design that is incorporated into your creative strategy, make sure you keep replicating that in your website. For example, I like the use of circles. I have incorporated that aspect into the rest of my website with round edges on boxes, and actual circles for my brand values, video, introduction page, and more. I feel having a fun shape can add more to your personal brand along with brand associations! Have fun with it!
Fonts was definitely a struggle for me when I was creating my creative strategy and also incorporating them into my website. I actually had an issue with Webflow and uploading my brand font because it didn't have it already on Webflow. I had to go through an external website and downloaded so many files that I might have a virus somewhere on my computer… To avoid doing what I did, make sure your font is either accessible with Webflow or you have an easy download for the font.
How can I find fonts? I usually look at various types of font pairings and select one font that speaks to me and move on to the next section to select a font. When I have my three fonts chosen, I put them next to each other and test them out in a Google Doc or Word. Make sure you always test your fonts side by side because these fonts will need to remain consistent in ALL aspects of your professional website. Canva also has a blog on 30 font combinations if you get lost or feel overwhelmed.
When I was starting my professional Website, I was already so tired from the creative strategy that I had no idea where to start. I watched videos, looked at my peers and I was only getting more discouraged in my creative skills that I had lost hope. When I was finally done procrastinating, I started developing but my draft was definitely a draft. I had no idea where to turn to, until I made the decision to use templates.
When starting my website, I was told that you shouldn’t use templates because they are harder to change and adjust. I do agree that templates can make your process delayed, IF you start with them. Understand how Web flow works first, with layers and what the specific names correlate too. That will make your web design process easier and more effective if you decide to use templates.
Webflow has free templates included in their website that you can use and try for yourself! Where can I find these resources? I’ll teach you in four easy steps!
Go through templates and get a gauge of what you want your website to look like. It also helps easily visualize what you can accomplish with webflow and how you can make them yours !
With the other classes and the creative strain that developing the creative strategy and personal website can be, do not lose hope. Everyone always struggles with time management and getting the motivation to get through the hard parts but it's comforting to know you’re not alone. Hopefully this blog can help you develop the easy parts of both your creative strategy and website elements to reduce your stress during midterms and finals. Remember! Start simple. 20-60 minutes per task. If you feel that this blog was helpful to you, please share with your community!
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