Website Design
Having a well-designed website is crucial for building a solid brand. It serves as a central hub for all your online activities and is usually your customers' first point of contact.
At Gray Matters, we can help you create this foundation without worrying about the intricate details. We provide affordable Squarespace site design packages that cover everything you need.
A Strategic Approach
We negotiate a balance between:
Your needs
Your budget
Fundamental design/user experience/marketing principles
The available tools (usually linked to #2)
Platforms We Work With
Squarespace
Square Online
Shopify
Wordpress
Wix
Odoo CRM
Neon CRM
Benefits of working with Gray Matters on your brand
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With numerous years of experience in business management, we know how challenging it is to wear many hats. By collaborating with our agency, you gain access to a diverse team of professionals with a broad spectrum of skills and expertise cultivated over many years of collective experience.
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One upfront investment in your brand will prepare you for many years of success.
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Few individuals attempt car maintenance themselves instead of hiring a professional. It is not that they are incapable of learning the necessary skills, but rather, it is simply not worth the effort and time investment.
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Our systematic approach ensures that design projects are carried out correctly, delivered on time, and within budget. After completing your project, Gray Matters is available to assist and answer inquiries five days a week, almost every week of the year.
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Not every entrepreneur possesses exceptional visual creativity. Our design studio connects clients to some of the most imaginative individuals locally, providing an ideal space to collaborate and draw inspiration from one another's perspectives.
I recently had the exciting opportunity to create the logo and branding for Big Oh! Box, a sex toy subscription service in Roanoke, Virginia. The brand is all about inclusivity and empowerment, offering gender-neutral, full-size adult toys designed for all couples. Their goal is to encourage exploration while removing the burden of decision-making, ensuring everyone can enjoy a sex-positive experience.
Michaela loved the original logo we created for her, but it was time for an update that better fits her unique aesthetic! She was also long overdue for a website to help streamline client intake for new services.
We were going for something with a more retro/vintage feel; Michaela came prepared with plenty of inspiration. I’m proud of the minimal warped typography effect and the carefully chosen rainbow color scheme — hinting at her studio’s emphasis on pride and inclusivity without being too in-your-face. It turned out GREAT on her tote bags!
When Building Beloved Communities called me the other day and asked how fast I could get this website live, I said, “Say less!” We completed the job and went live within just three days!
Squarespace Website Design & Infographic Design for Qentoros Inc., whose mission is to create an FDA approved, off-the-shelf, scientifically proven orthobiologic for the treatment of musculoskeletal injuries in horses.
Squarespace Website Design & Logo Design for Simon Kinsinger of Kinsinger Financial — a Financial Coach who empowers individuals and families to achieve financial freedom.
Squarespace website design for local sports bar and restaurant Lost In Taste. My goal was to echo the creativity the owner put into the brand and his restaurant decor. This is probably one of my favorite client sites, aesthetically. I am a sucker for an excellent dark color scheme and carefully chosen accents. We did all the photography for this project. We also designed the logo & branding for this business.
One of the biggest confusions for Hazelbea At Home customers was pick-up locations and times and delivery fees. On the old site, there was not a great way to host Hazelbea’s business model and fulfillment schedule. Each pick-up location has a different address and different hours, delivery fulfillment costs a fee and the delivery radius is limited. On the old site, there was a bit of thinking involved for the customer. Delivery fees had to be manually added to the customer’s cart.
It was a difficult (and confusing) call to make, but we ultimately ended up redesigning her entire Square site in favor of …also a Square site, but with all of the following problems solved:
streamlined & fool-proofed the interfaces for pick-up locations, pick-up times, and delivery fulfillment
merged and corrected item inventories
fixed sale & item report syncing problems between the Square POS dashboard and Square Online interfaces
made publishing weekly menus easier
On the new site, all of the individual pick-up locations and times are automated per order super clearly and the delivery radius is limited to counties/area codes that are chosen by the owner.
Squarespace site design for Building Beloved Communities, a non-profit consulting company based in Roanoke, VA. The biggest benefit of having a designer set up your Squarespace site for you is that you can skip all the learning curves and design indecision. When you join the Gray Matters family, we set you up for success and share with you our tips and tricks to use Squarespace like a pro too.
Brandy Renee McCann (Appalbrandy.com) reached out to us to replace her Wordpress site with something better. She came prepared with some examples of other writers’ sites that she liked. One of the main goals (besides typical things such as a general design upgrade and improvements to SEO) was to find a way to better showcase and organize the scope of Brandy’s writing work.
This client came to me for an “emergency” website re-design. Yes, you read that correctly… An emergency!! Direct visits to the website worked as normal, but when you searched for her business on Google and clicked on the listing, you’d be re-directed to a totally different website that had nothing to do with her business. This problem was likely a result of either an outdated or insecure WordPress plug-in. I consulted my colleagues (who are more proficient in WordPress things than I), who agreed with my assessment of the situation. We determined it was easier and faster to start a whole new site from scratch than to try to fix the bug on the existing site.
ECC Test Lab (previously located in Blacksburg, VA — now in Richmond, VA) came to me for a logo refresh and total website overhaul. ECC is an accredited analytical and microbial laboratory whose mission is to provide our customers with the highest quality results in the fastest time possible. When they approached me, they were just beginning to expand from primarily hemp testing into a full range of product safety and quality testing for a variety of industries. They can accommodate most requests with a wide array of specialized instrumentation and combined expertise in chemical and microbial analysis.
Recent Work
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“I loved working with Sarah! She went above and beyond my expectations to build my website. I really felt like it was a collaborative process— I had an idea of what I wanted, and she turned that idea into reality. Even now several months after the site went live, she checks in to see how my site is performing in searches and does optimization things I don’t really understand (but that work!). I highly recommend Gray Matters.”
BRANDY RENEE MCCANN (Appalbrandy.com)
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“Building a business from the ground up is very exciting and challenging at the same time. When you find someone that shares your same enthusiasm and also has the talent to enhance your dreams… you know you’ve found a great business partner. I’m a hands on business owner who was able to let go with Gray Matters! Sarah was able to help me with logos, website, t-shirt design and just like their name, everything else in between. Thank you for your time and inspiration. I look forward to our future projects!”
ALAN JOHNSON (Lost In Taste)
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“Sarah Vogl was so EASY to work with! Efficient, professional, affordable. I cannot sing her praises enough! She listened to the ideas in our heads and created a beautiful website! If you want to check out our website, visit www.BuildingBelovedCommunities.com! 5 STARS! Thank you, Sarah!"
SHANNON (buildingbelovedcommunities.com)
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Sarah is an superior website builder for a great price. I'm completely satisfied with my new website. The flow of the pages and uptick in responses has really made a difference for our service company. Compared to the other 2 companies I worked with before, I will always recommend her if you need a site built.
DAVID FERGUSON (latenightlocksmith.com)
What to expect
If you’ve never worked with a designer before, the website process can feel a little mysterious. My goal is to make things simple, collaborative, and (dare I say) fun. Here’s exactly what it looks like to work with me from start to finish.
