Savy Studio

🖊💻 Design With Purpose: Making Websites More Inclusive, One Update at a Time

For the past couple of years, I've had the pleasure of working with this local non-profit in Calgary on their website to provide helpful resources, updates, and guidance to their clients with disabilities, their guardians and staff.

Recently, I’ve explored user experience design and have been learning how to incorporate accessibility features to ensure the site is easy to use for people of all abilities. With a goal of creating a more welcoming digital experience, every update is focused on improving access for everyone! Here’s what we’re working on to enhance the site:

✨Bigger, bolder headlines + friendly fonts - for better readability
✨Descriptive alternative text for images - accessible for the visually impaired
✨High contrast / colourful links and buttons - to help guide the visitor

Websites are always evolving, and we’re excited to see what’s next in this adventure!

Here are the visual “tricks” we used to play on human psychology and get Peter Holgate’s The 🔥Hot Seat standing out in a lineup of podcasts on streaming platforms:

🔥 Peter’s photo - for the human element (more clicks with a face on the cover)

🔥 Hot gradient boarder - to stand out in a podcast lineup + brand recognition

🔥 Bold, large and minimalist font - easy to read and understand in seconds

🔥 Dark and moody grey background - gives the image depth and dimension

This was our first hand at designing a podcast cover and logo and it was (unsurprisingly) fun! A huge plus for working with an open-minded and friendly client - it makes the process that much more enjoyable as a designer!

So you’ve received your new brand package from your designer and you’re stoked to show it off - then you go to update your website 👀

The style of your site doesn’t match your new aesthetic and you have no clue how to make it match (you’ve already DIY’d it and you’re NOT attempting that again).

We gave a software development team’s brand guide a bit of a makeover with more vivid colours, web (and eyeball) friendly fonts - small changes for a huge impact! This style guide made it that much easier in the process of designing their website.

We get it 😅 you’re super busy running your business. Let us take care of your site while you do your thing (and look cool doing it).

Exciting news! We had the pleasure of creating a brand identity for local Hairstylist and her partner's new beauty salon right here in Calgary.

Introducing: The Attic Hair & Makeup ✨

We are so excited for Keri and Sarah as they open their doors this month!

💡Wondering how you can get your customers to your website or social media in seconds? We have an answer: QR codes 👌🏼

Instead of making people type in your website url into their browser, pop a QR code on your business card or any other printed materials and boom - they’ve landed on your site with a simple scan! Plus, it can look super cool 😎

Shoutout to Enta Solutions Inc. for working with us on their fab business cards printed by (you guessed it) moo.com ✨They chose spot gloss and thick card stock on velvety smooth paper (we’re not drooling, you’re drooling).

Do your clients consistently ask you how much your services cost? It might be time to get a price list menu designed✨

We created this menu for the talented Beautology Studio to make it that much easier for her clients to see what she had to offer all on one card. A simple front and back layout was all she needed!

Listing your offerings on a physical menu can also allow your customers to see other service options that they may have not seen otherwise - meaning more money in your pocket and a very satisfied client!

"Do I really need a website?" is something we get asked constantly. If you are a service or product-based business, the answer is YES!

But, could your website pay for itself? Yup, there are a few ways that your new site will drive business:

🤑 You’re providing a simple way to book in with you at a time that is convenient for your customers whether you're by your phone or not

😅 If your social media accounts got taken down tomorrow you'd have a guaranteed way to stay in touch through your newsletter and/or your website

😌 Having a professional website, no matter how simple, will make you seem trustworthy and legitimate when people land on your profile

Not sure where to start? Visit savystudio.ca to see how we can help your biz go from boring to booked!

If you found this post helpful, save it and send it to a friend who could use a little help as they're starting out on their entrepreneurial journey.

We believe in creating moments that make your customers think, ‘Wow, I’m really working with the best in the industry.‘ One avenue we excel in is designing business cards that speak volumes about your brand’s quality and style.

We’re proud to highlight our recent collaboration with Calgary Realtor, .bilisuma (Hawi Real Estate) on her elegant business cards. Hawi reached out to us initially for a brand package and later needed some high end, elegant business cards for her thriving business. Of course, we both agreed that we just had to incorporate gold foil and a luxuriously thick card stock to reflect her classy, feminine and earthy vibe!

Thanks to for the gorgeous biz card mockup 🤎

😌 Who doesn’t want to be a little pampered every now and then? We helped local hairstylist, Keri Gordon in Mission achieve just that with these elegant aftercare cards.

If you’re thinking about how you can create a nice take-home package for your customers after their appointment, there are a few items that can help you pull that off.

Choose from:

✨Educational aftercare cards
✨Fun branded stickers
✨Gift cards
✨Thank you cards

These thoughtful add ons ensure your clients feel cared for and remind them to schedule their next appointment. We’d say that’s a win-win 👌🏼

Have you had a chance to review us on Google? It's easy!

Click the link to give us your honest feedback and a star rating to help us reach even more people just like you:

https://g.page/r/CRoVkrTAxkK6EAI/review

🎤 Podcast Artwork for Canadian soon-to-be podcaster Peter Holgate.

Our previous clients, Tara and Peter reached out to us to design a cover image for their new podcast launching this year. So of course we said yes! 🙌🏼

Peter’s new pod interviews small business owners and asks them tough questions to reveal the hard truth about running their business. We can’t wait to listen in the coming months 🎧

New Project 📣

We have been working on a fun UI design project for an Estate Management web application. In collaboration with and Layer 7 Innovations, we created a snazzy new logo, brand guide, and a robust responsive app to be launched later this year. The sleek digital blue and unique Red Hat font makes for a clean interface, ready for new users to dive into their estate management online at any time.

📷 Throwback to these business cards we designed for a photographer based in Vancouver

My first client ever was in fact my father 🥹 I was very proud to have worked on his logo and business cards which he ended up loving! To this day I am still very proud of how these business cards turned out and the amazing quality of the print by .

🤔 Here are the 5 reasons why your posts always seem to look off:

👉🏼 You’re picking random fonts or using too many. Stick to max 2 to keep your brand looking consistent (it works, I promise).

👉🏼 You have sized down your text to fit it onto the page. Keep your text on the larger size to make sure it is legible.

👉🏼 Your body text is centre aligned or aligned to the right side of the page. Align longer bodies of text to the left to avoid eye strain and confusion.

👉🏼 You wanted to fit all of your ideas into one page so you paragraph vomited. Keep it to one short paragraph per page. No one wants to read a novel on social media!

👉🏼 You chose light colours for both your text and your background. Make sure your text contrasts enough against your background to ensure you can still see it.

If you found this post helpful, share it with your community! 📤

📲 App Design: I’ve branched out and tried my hand at designing mobile and web applications. It’s just what I needed to continue to build my design skills in a new way. I must say — I really enjoyed it!

As the lead brand designer, I was asked by a development team out of Toronto, Layer 7 Innovations to do branding for this Fintech app. LegacyOne will be a web application available on mobile and desktop to make managing your estate that much easier, all in one place. Keep an eye out for updates on their launch date 🚀

✨Elegant and classy was the vibe and I think we nailed it.

If anyone is searching for a realtor in YYC, .bilisuma is your girl!

When’s the last time you updated your resume? It’s been a while…

It just so happens that I opened up an Etsy shop and have a resume template that could help you out with the tedious process of redoing your word template for the 5th time. She’s sleek, simple, and ready to customize!

Tap the link in my bio to get your hands on it and finally apply with confidence to your dream job.

A beautiful brand needs a beautiful set of business cards ✨
studio is a local Hair & Makeup Artist here in Calgary. She approached me to refresh her brand including the creation of a new logo, business cards and a few other marketing materials.

Elegant, clean and feminine is what comes to mind when I was designing these cards. We wanted them to feel like a breath of fresh (perhaps scented) air. Crisp and clean purple paired with this gorgeous font created just that!