Christine Castro of Darling Studio is a brilliant website designer. Getting your website designed is a big thing. It is the face of your business, and it is also a reflection of you. You want people to be drawn to it, and to stay a while, so the design – both in terms of beauty and usability – is crucial. And because so much is riding on it, it can be stressful, but Christine was a dream to work with on the first site we created for DWYL and made the whole thing exciting.
Christine is a veteran blogger, who has been posting about her life for over a decade, first on Webby-nominated maganda.org and now on Brunch and Darling Design. Christine has designed websites for wildly popular artists like Sabrina Ward Harrison and Kelly Rae Roberts. She loves colour, simplicity, and a good cup of coffee and her work has been featured in national publications, including An Illustrated Life, Little Book of Letterpress, and Desire to Inspire.
Here Christine talks about brunch, lessons and working with artists to help them communicate their work to the outside world.
1. What is your favourite way to start the day?
I love slowly waking up beside my husband Rama with sun pouring through the window and the babbling of our son Henry in the other room. Ideally, this is followed by a leisurely breakfast, complete with coffee or tea, more sunshine and some conversation. I am not a morning person, so I prefer to ease into the day. Of course, with a 1-1/2-year-old son who wakes up with the birds, this is not always possible!
2. You have designed some gorgeous websites – can you share some of your favourites and tell us what you love about them?
Thank you so much. One of my favourite projects has to be the first website I created for someone other than myself, the portfolio for artist Sabrina Ward Harrison. Working with the artist I had admired for so long was such a dream, and this project catapulted me into a career, and life, that I could never have otherwise imagined.
Another favourite is the site I created for children’s clothing line Velvet and Tweed. I worked with designer Tina Schreiber from the brand’s inception, creating the Velvet & Tweed logo, color palette, patterns and illustrations, and it was a blast. I just adore their classic, vintage aesthetic.
Finally, the site for You Are My Fave featuring my hand-drawn illustrations is a recent favorite. Event planner Melanie Blodgett came to me with a clear vision of something whimsical and delightful, and I had so much fun bringing that vision to life.
3. How do you go about trying to capture the image someone has in their head and turning that into a design?
We spend a lot of time exploring together. I give always give my clients homework, but it’s fun homework! They fill out a questionnaire that asks some key questions about their goals, requirements and aesthetics, and we have many conversations about the answers. Sometimes, my clients give me peeks into their inspiration. After all of that exploration, I do my own research and a whole lot of brainstorming, sketching, scribbling, scratching out and more sketching! The final step is creating actual design concepts that represent what the final website might look like.
4. What do you like best about working with artists on their websites?
I enjoy working with artists because each has such a distinct point of view, style and aesthetic. I find that working with artists, rather than entrepeneurs, is much more of a collaboration–an exchange of ideas and inspiration. And that can be rewarding.
5. And what are the challenges of doing that?
Every project has its challenges, and working with artists is no exception. I’d hate to generalize beyond that.
6. You recently spoke at the Altitude Design Summit. How was that experience? What did you talk about? What do you think people get out of gatherings like that?
It was amazing! I spoke on a panel about take the leap to full-time creative work with Christine Koh and Lisa Warninger. I think the best part about ALT and those types of gatherings is the people. My fellow panelists alone are such talented creatives, and getting to know them and their work was inspiring. Multiply that times a hundred, and add a hundred more; that was ALT. Not only were these people talented, but they were unbelievably kind. Everyone was so happy and willing to share their knowledge, experiences and stories, which is invaluable. I hope to return next year, and I highly recommend it to other design and lifestyle bloggers and creatives.
7. You have had your work featured in galleries around the world, on blogs and websites and even in textbooks. What is your advice to someone who doesn’t know how to go about getting their work out there?
My advice is to work hard and stay true to yourself. If you are consistently working hard and creating work that makes you proud, then you are more likely to ignite some interest. Also: Participate in the community of which you are a part. You probably won’t get noticed if you aren’t speaking up! If you’re an illustrator or graphic designer, competitions are a great way to get your work in the public eye. If you want to pitch a product or service to a publication, I highly recommend reading Design*Sponge founder Grace Bonney’s “Public Relations for the Independent Designer.” Those are just a couple of ideas.
8. What is the most important lesson you have learned in your decade of blogging?
Stay true to yourself. I know I said that above, but I can’t stress how important it is. I created my first personal website, maganda.org in 2000. Those first few years were exhilarating. I stayed up until all hours of the night, writing, designing and just playing. When I wasn’t updating it, I was thinking about it. I was obsessed. But in the last few years, I lost my drive. I just wasn’t inspired by it anymore. I received a lot of pressure from readers, friends and family to update it, and every couple weeks I would. But last summer, I finally made the decision to quit maganda.org and start something new – something that would inspire me again. I began Brunch, and all of a sudden I came alive. I was once again obsessed, and it felt great! Blogging, whether for business or pleasure, should be fun. You need to love it in order for it to be any kind of success, whether professional or personal. If it’s not making you happy, something’s wrong.
9. Where to next for Christine Castro?
I have about a gazillion ideas and plans, but I am pregnant with my second child right now and right now my number one priority is ushering that new soul into the world and being present for my family.
Find out more about Christine on her blog Brunch, her website Darling Studio, or connect on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest,
[All images courtesy of Christine Castro]
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