When’s the last time you thought about how your shop’s design and branding is appearing to your customers? It’s an important thing to revisit every now and then. In this episode of The Jam, our very own Jade takes us through some important steps to make sure your design is on point! This will help you take your shop to the next level and find even more Etsy shop success!

Design tips

Today we’re diving into branding and design and how these apply to your Etsy shop! We’ve got a few tips to help you have a shop that flows well aesthetically and isn’t disjointed in the way it is perceived by your customers. Have you ever entered an Etsy shop where the design of the shop seems to have not been thought through? Where the pictures being used are blurry and things just don’t seem put together? This can really dictate how long a customer sticks around.

Good design builds trust

Imagine if you walked into Target and their sign was hanging askew. You got inside and the floors were gross and dirty. And the shelves were only half stocked and super messy, would you want to stay and wander the aisles? Probably not. The same holds true, especially in an e-commerce setting! 

Having a shop that isn’t thought through design-wise, does not help to instill trust that the product being sold there will be high quality. The opposite might be true, it could be that the product being offered is amazing! But, communicating that to your customers through the way your shop looks and feels will help you tremendously when it comes to closing a sale. Good photography, good design, really builds trust.

What exactly do you need to look at? 

There are several things to think about when it comes to design in your shop and making it flow well: 

1.) Your shop banner – This is the gate way to your shop, the first image your customers will see! If they’re greeted by a blurry, pixilated image, or an image that has zero to do with the rest of your shop, that is not good design communication. 

2.) Your shop logo – Is it pixilated? Is it a picture of a cat/fur baby and does it have zero to do with the shop? If so, this isn’t a great way to communicate and needs to be switched out for a more professional logo.

3.) The shop flow – What we mean by this is, when you look at the shop as a whole, was there thought put behind each thing? How are the colors in the shop? Have you got a logo that’s bright neon orange while your product photos are mainly pastel pink? Is it clashing? The way a shop looks as a whole and the way it flows really matters. And you’ll be able to tell if someone has seriously thought through their brand or not.

4.) The about section – This is also a section that is often forgotten and needs to be addressed if so. This is where you can really communicate with your customers. You can clearly tell them who you are as a shop owner and why you do what you do. Building your brand starts with you and connection with you as a human will bring shoppers back again and again. 

Looking for cues 

We’ve talked about this before, but when you’re shopping online, you don’t have the ability to walk in and look around a shop. So, customers will be looking for shops that feel welcoming and make them feel like this is a safe place to shop. It’s the little cues that you are giving and your customer is looking for that matter. You’re communicating to them through the way your shop is set up, that they are going to have a fantastic experience when they purchase from you. 

There is so much you can do!

Do not be discouraged about any of this, just because you might have made mistakes with design in the past! There are SO many things you can do that will take your shop to the next level design wise, and you don’t have to have the best of the best props/camera/light box wise. Sure, you may have tried to use a bath towel as a background in the past! But will you do that moving forward? Heck no! Cause you’re about to level up with the way your shop looks. 

Doing things like, placing your products on a white piece of paper and zooming in to take the photo is just one work around if you don’t have a light box. You can also take great photos on your iPhone/smart phone if you get creative! You don’t have to start fancy and feel like you can’t do what you need to, just because you might not have the most professional set up. The most important thing is that no matter what you’re doing, you’re making your customers understand that they can trust you as a seller and what you sell. 

Minimalism is trending!

A bonus to not being overwhelmed with what you’re doing in your shop design wise, is to remember that minimalism is trending right now! Keeping things simple, clean and consistent is always a safe bet when it comes to your shop and the way it looks. Things do not need to be fancy and complicated when it comes to your colors/photos/brand in general.

Bring in someone you trust

If you’re having a hard time telling if your photos/design is good or not, now would be a great time to bring in someone you trust to critique your shop. We’re all gifted in different ways and if yours isn’t in this area, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that! Ask someone who you trust (trust is key here) to review your listings and pictures, have them tell you what feeling they have when they’re browsing your shop. Do they want to stick around or book it outta there? Whatever comes from doing this, take this critique and change what you need to in order to take your shop above and beyond where it. already is. 

And keep in mind, it can be hard as an artist to take critiques on what you’ve spent so much time on. But, being able to self asses where you are and where your shop is is crucial to having a successful business in general! Being able to implement constructive criticism and change what needs to be changed really will make a huge difference. 

Do some research

Another great thing to do for your shop is to research other shops that you love and take notes on what they’re doing! Do you love the way they’re implementing props? How they’re using colors? Take what you love from those shops and then (without copying them) make it your own and put your own unique twist on these things. 

Practically speaking

So you don’t know where to start with making a great banner or logo for your shop? The first thing we recommend is signing up for a free account with Canva. Canva is a great set of online design tools that comes with pre-sized social media images. You can also do a quick google search to find the exact size you need for different images and can create them quickly in canvas as well. This is also a great tool to download high resolution designs and photos so you don’t end up with a grainy image. 

Also, keep your colors to between three to five and put some thought behind this. If you use too many different colors it can be confusing or even jarring if they clash. Having colors that flow well together will put your customers at. This will also make them want to stay and browse ALL your products! 

It’s also important to remember not to distract your customers with too many different props in your listing photos. If you have so much in there that your customer can’t be sure what you’re actually selling, this will only cause confusion and possibly overwhelm them. Carefully choose props that only serve to highlight your products and enhance what you’re selling. 

Small steps

You don’t have to make all of these changes at once. Write out a plan for how you’d like to tackle the design changes that need to be made in your shop. Once you have them down, slowly start to implement them. Start simple, use what you have, and simply move forward!

Just like SEO, design needs to be tweaked and changed as time moves on. You don’t want to change your logo constantly. Preferably you have a logo that was created for you that will last for forever! But, things like your shop banner and product photos can definitely be updated and changed depending on the season and if something is out of style. 

Final Thoughts

Remember that you’re writing a story with your brand and your shop. Are you having a hard time figuring out exactly what story you want to communicate with your brand? Write out some adjectives that come to mind when you think of yourself and your products. From there, it’s pretty amazing how a design will start to take form. When you describe things, there are often colors that come to mind along with images and shapes. This is where that design process can begin! Your brand is your story. This is how you can connect with your buyers and once they’re connected with you, they’ll definitely want to come back. 

Happy designing, everyone!

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