Hello world! (+ 2023 recap)

Work
Written By Farrah Fox

I’m beginning this new journaling venture the way that every blog must: with a hello to the world wide web.

This is the first of (hopefully) monthly journal entries in which I go over a case study for a recent project, share some photos from a shoot or a trip, or just wax poetic because it’s my website and you’re just visiting.

This past year, I left the salaried agency world to take my side-hustle full-time. It was scary and joyous and exhilarating. For a bit of a memento — an ode, if you will — to my first year as a full-on freelancer, I want to look back and celebrate a few of the wild milestones and beautiful work I got to make. Reflection is what it’s all about; I love looking back on each year as its own little time capsule of growth and challenge. Each one brings something new, and what a joy it is to live it.

Anyways…enough nonsense…

2023 in 7 highlights:

1. I designed + developed 25 Squarespace websites!

I got to work with everyone from fellow photographers, to my favorite local pizza joint, to an awesome local in-home senior care service. I’m so grateful for the trust from each and every one of my clients. We go on a journey together — starting with strategy development and mockup design — before ever building in Squarespace. You gotta trust the process! And these clients were right there with me, committed to creating something awesome together.

 
 

2. I re-engaged with 11 past clients who returned to work with me on site updates or brand revamps.

This is a big deal for me for a few reasons:

  • Your website should evolve. What we create today will most likely not fully serve your needs five years from now (or even one!). In order to best showcase your latest service offering or speak to the audience niche you’ve discovered, we may need to develop some new pages or update your branding. Some clients are able to tackle these updates on their own — and I give them all the tools to do so! — but sometimes it’s more efficient to bring in someone who has an outside perspective on the problem you’re trying to solve.

  • Relationship-building is at the core of what I do. In order to build a great website, I need to get to know you and your brand pretty dang well. When a client comes back for more after their brand has continued to grow — well that’s just a joy.

  • I want every website to reflect well on both myself and my client. I include design credits at the bottom of every site I build. The better a site looks, operates, and speaks to a client’s mission, the more likely it is that someone might scroll to the bottom of the page and ask themselves, “Now wait a second here — who made this sick-ass website?” I love every chance I get to improve upon something I built in the past, and bring it up to match a client’s current needs.

A few past clients that re-engaged in 2023! • L-R: Organic Collective, Common House, BCK

 
 

3. I partnered with a fab new Strategy + Copy genius, Kenly!

Kenly is a dear friend of mine, and when she left her agency job around the same time I did, we schemed on how we could work together. Incredible clients have been falling in our laps ever since.

She absolutely crushed the brand strategy and full web copy for Commonwise Home Care, and we already have a handful of awesome projects in the pipeline for 2024. Sitting on her porch, collaborating on sitemaps and wireframes, and dreaming up our future studio names brought me so much energy and joy this year — I can’t wait for what’s to come!

Me + Kenly taking over the world! • L-R: Kenly and I after our first business meeting, Kenly at our “staff Christmas party,” Porch hangs + brainstorm locale

 
 

4. I embarked on my first international photo trip.

I was lucky enough to partner with Marge on her first-ever solo yoga retreat — MARGE CAMP — in Puerto Morelos, MX.

It was a wild ride and I learned a lot about international travel (just get there a day early, shit happens) and building in rest for myself while on a “work” trip. I met new friends and deepened relationships with old ones and MY SISTER even got to come along! Going on this trip really cracked me open and showed me what a life outside of my salaried job could look like. It laid the foundation for my eventual leap to full-time freelance. Here a few of my favorite images from my time in Mexico:

(P.S. Lucky for me, I’ll be returning to MARGE CAMP this May, and will also be heading to Baja in March with another local yoga studio in Richmond. What a lucky gal I am!!!)

 
 

5. I photographed 6 weddings + elopements.

I am a photographer first and foremost, and photography is what led me to design so many years ago. I gravitated towards web design because of the way it pairs so nicely with photographs, how you need to understand cropping and sequencing in order to tell a really great story on a website. I love this challenge and how it marries so much of what I love about photo + design.

Portraiture is my bread and butter. Capturing human emotion + someone’s essence is a crazy joy. I’m honored when people invite me into such special days to document all that unfolds. I take on a very limited number of wedding clients because I want to give 100% of my creative energy to them, and I prioritize small guest counts and local venues. Here are a few of my favorite shots from 2023, film + digital, all shot in Virginia.

 
 

6. I started scanning + developing film at home!

When I left my salaried job, one of my main priorities was to build in more time for “fun” in all its forms. I wanted more space to explore and recharge and channel my creativity into new avenues that I didn’t have time for before. One of these was film developing, and it’s been such a fun journey. I’ve messed up some frames and dropped a few rolls in the bathtub — but overall it’s WORKED!

Developing film requires solid focus for ~30 minutes. I can’t really be checking my phone or doing anything else. I gotta be tapped in. It’s a nice break from sitting at a computer, and I get to watch these images unfurl from nothing. It’s crazy and so cool to be a part of the process from beginning to end. I’m now including film in every wedding package I offer, and I bring my little point and shoot everywhere I go.

I’ve been shooting film since I was 15, but being able to develop it at home has opened up more accessibility and lent a bit more joy to the process. I love it. It’s so hard, and has been challenging my editing game in a lot of ways, but I’m excited to see how this practice grows and influences my work in 2024.

 
 

7. I started offering Shopify theme development.

This has been a long-time goal of mine. I always recommend Shopify to potential clients who come to me with their e-comm sites, but haven’t found a great partner to develop them. I’ve spent years in the back-end of Shopify and know the platform inside and out, so it felt like a natural progression of my own Squarespace design + dev offering. But Shopify is BIG and SCARY! The platform always intimidated me from a front-end development standpoint. But I put my big girl pants on and took a class with Rache of Squarestylist late last year and have already signed 3 Shopify clients for this spring!!!! (Imposter syndrome who???)

Super pumped to begin sharing this work — stay tuned for more on this front!

 
 

that’s a wrap! kinda.

Behind the scenes, I’ve been working with my incredible coach (I did her website!) and my therapist. I got to go on my honeymoon in 2023 and travel a lot to see friends and family. I started a book club, I’ve been meditating and volunteering, I’ve been dreaming up my first novel and making pretty wild income goals for 2024. Everything feels wide open. Some days I still feel small and confused. But I know that’s all a part of the gig. I’m grateful every day for this freedom and this light (I’m a sappy lil Cancer bb).

I’ve already got some very exciting projects in the works with clients I deeply admire, and I’m so excited to dive in to 2024. EEK! Here we go!

Thanks for looking.

 
 
Farrah Fox https://farrahbfox.com