It’s Alive!!!!!!
I feel like Viktor Frankenstein… instantly proud, excited and a little horrified after finally unveiling his creation.
It turns out… I am my own worst client.
Shock horror eh! 😱😂
Don’t get me wrong – I am utterly delighted with the website – it is everything that I have always wanted it to be, but never gave myself the time to create.
However, the road to get here was torturous. Just like almost every single client I have worked with – I wanted to perfect everything before writing this post and pushing “GO LIVE”. Not all of my client work and testimonials are on here and I have not tested it as much as I would like to. Like the cobblers kids, my own website was shoehorned into stolen moments between client projects, health scares and general life chaos. After weeks of trying to get everything done perfectly before launch, I finally had enough of my own ‘perfectionist’ nonsense and decided to give myself a dose of the medicine I always dispense to clients – “It is more than good enough to launch because a website is, and always should be a work in progress”.
Ouch. The pain of trying let go while every fibre of my being wants to keep tipping and tapping.
I felt the pang of empathy with my clients so many times over the course of this rebuild. I longed for someone to co-create with me. Someone to help me stop spinning my wheels and give me the confidence to say – “Yeah, you are right, that is good enough for now 🙌” or “This is not a priority, this is a nice to have and you’ve just wasted a full hour tinkering with it… ” and “Really Orla… opening with Frankenstein to describe your website?”. I believe this site would have gone live a month ago if I could have co-created it with someone.
However… I did have a gorgeous experience of working with two wonderful, creative souls to kickstart this project. Let me introduce (or re-introduce) you to:
Photography: John Hyland
Firstly – Mr. John Hyland with his wonderful, authentic and atmosphere filled photography. I didn’t want anything too staged, cookie cutter perfect or uber professional. That is just not who I am. John took the brief and ran with it. I am utterly thrilled with the results, no makeup, no hair do, no fancy wardrobe – it was just two happy people goofing and having fun in nature. The shoot feels so connected with my ethos on business generally, we can do business that feels sustainable, true and connected. Check out John at http://realonemedia.ie/ (website under construction currently)
Branding: Sinead Thompson
Secondly, the brand was created by Sinead Thompson. I’ve always created my own brands and this felt necessary as a designer. However, one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned as a result of my shift to Co-Creation is the value of collaboration. Often times, the ideas in our heads are best translated by someone else with us guiding the process and giving them the gut-check. Just like the photography, I wanted something that felt genuine and resonant for me. I loved the original branding that I had created but I knew it needed something more.
Over several patient iterations, Sinead listened, amended and the minute I saw the final brand concept, I fell instantly in love with it 🥰. The ribbons as layers of change, the sparks of genius like my ink splashes in painting and the bright, jewel colours that I adored from my original brand were enhanced with beautiful new colour complements. As with the photography, I didn’t want anything too professional, I wanted my brand to intentionally be a bit messy because that is who I am. As a thinker, creator, parent and friend, I am a little chaotic – it comes with the territory with ADHD but also with a life lived through design and constantly riding the crests of waves of thoughts and ideas.
This ‘messyness’ is what makes me who I am. It has taken a lifetime for me to get to this point of acceptance and letting go of all the shame around this is likely going to be a lifetime battle. It is what allows me to bring out the best in my clients – loving what is unique about them and blending that with a professional presence that aligns with their goals. We need more of the messy side of people. The robots are coming to give us perfect professionalism – our job is to keep them guessing 😂.
… and you thought you were just getting a professional “New Website Live” post… not a chance, I had to bring a bit of overshare / psychology / philosophy in here – sure otherwise you would suspect this was AI generated 😆.
Enough for now… I am sure I will have more thoughts to share with you on the process of being in the shoes of my clients and excitingly, I am recording Client Stories with my clients. These will be relaxed chats with them about their business, their experience and their hopes. Watch this space… or better again.. signup for my newsletter for a once a month update from all my goings on!
