Hey SmugMug fans!! We have put a lot of emphasis on how we can create full websites within SmugMug with SmugSkins, but a lot of need out there doesn’t fall under that category. Is this you?

• You have a website
• You love your website
• You love SmugMug and want to use it to manage your galleries or sell your images
• You want your SmugMug site to look just like your main website!

SmugMug is such an awesome platform for showcasing and selling your images, why not brand it to match the rest of your site and blog? That is where we come in.

We recently completed brand-matching for Jim Garner and J. Garner Photography,  acclaimed as  “One of the Top 10 Wedding Photographers in the World” by American Photo Magazine and  “Photographer of the Year” by Professional Photographers of America (PPA). Their main site was built using Big Folio, and they use SmugMug to host their client galleries.

Here are some screen shots, but click here to compare in your browser: Main site vs. SmugMug site for Client Galleries

Needless to say, they were thrilled.

Wow, it looks amazing!  You really nailed the look of the new site, it looks great.

Contact us for more information about brand-matching your SmugMug site!

We are proud to announce the launch of our latest SmugMug Customization – www.bravephoto.com!

Chris Dyer, firefighter & photographer from Ocala, Florida was an absolute pleasure to work with. He gave us creative leeway and we, well, ran with it! Frank and I had so much fun creating this site that is very uniquely Chris.

Check out the before and after screen shots.

Before SmugSkin:

After SmugSkin!

Chris also wrote this glowing testimonial:

I love the way my web presence flows now.  I especially love the fact that I’m not bound by any of my own piddling.  Having a nasty habit of trying my hand in web tech, that I really don’t have the time to learn before diving into… well it usually causes headaches.  With my New Skin Media custom SmugSkin, I finally have everything I needed in form and function, without any of the walls applied by most “website designers” that would suppress my business/personal creativity.  Rarely in this new age of internet-by-force do you come out of a site upgrade feeling like you were involved at the bristle-end of the brush.  You guys really kept me in the loop, handled my quirks, lack (refusal?) of sleep and an unusual schedule, all without losing sight of my personal vision for the look and feel of the site.

I’m not certain you didn’t use voodoo, mind control, or kidnapping to get me onboard with all the social networking, but even if I can’t keep up with the world of posts, tweets, and feeds, it’s there and available to help keep my wheels turning.

Frank’s graphics were perfect. Even withstanding a wandering thesis on fluid dynamics of contained fire, super-heated gas, rollover, flashover… wait I’m about to start again.  At any rate, my boring description of the visible and invisible appearance (or lack thereof) was translated into a fitting image that translates so well into my world.

Melissa’s CSS mastery, and ability to figuratively poke me in the forehead when I was slow to catch on, proved very effective in keeping me from over-running what makes the site so functional.  All without ever saying “No” to my desire to add potentially destructive elements to my site through my afore mentioned piddling.

Thanks again,

Christopher L. Dyer
www.BravePhoto.com

Bright and early Tuesday morning and we are ready (well, as ready as you can be after just a few hours of sleep… *yawn*!!!) to rock the WPPI trade show! A change in plans has opened up more time for us to spend with you today, so now we will be available all day at the SmugMug & Bay Photo booth.

We hope you are having as much fun as we are! Please make sure you stop by booths 1518 and 1519 to speak with us about custom SmugSkins! Make sure to ask us about our show specials:

Purchase your SmugSkin at WPPI and get a free Twitter customization!

Join our mailing list (this week only) and get 10% off your custom SmugSkin!

Help us bring a new higher standard standard of design continuity to the web. Make your entire website one single seamless entity, be it your main site, online proofing and shopping cart, portfolio, blog, etc. Give it one solid look that is all you!

Come by today (Tuesday) from 10am to 4pm or tomorrow, Wednesday, from 10am to 12:30pm. We can’t wait to meet you!

-Melissa and Frank

Congrats Tony! Your number came up and now you are the lucky Smugger that gets to have a total SmugSkin make-over! Here is what Tony had to say about why he loves SmugMug:

I love smugmug for:
Easy to upload my pics, clients can order my print without me setup a credit card service. I can customize my pricing to different clients, you can setup a password for those private clients view. Customer service a great too.

Keep an eye on Tony’s site, as very soon it will be transforming into something unique and awesome
http://tonyyau.smugmug.com/

Thanks everyone! Really great to hear about how much all of you love SmugMug!

I am happy to announce that New Skin Media will be at WPPI this year as a special guest at the SmugMug booth! If you are dying to meet me in person and ask me a bunch of questions about customizing your SmugMug site with a new SmugSkin, be sure to check us out at booth #s 1518 & 1519 (also the Bay Photo booth) on:

Tuesday March 9th, 2010 between 1:30 and 4pm

AND Wednesday March 10th, 2010 between 10:30am and 12:20pm

We will be having special drawings and giving away special offers, so be sure and stop by!!! I’m SO excited!!! VEGAS BABY!

-Melissa

Love is in the air! Win a Free SmugSkin, a SmugMug Customization by New Skin Media!

Raise your hand if you love SmugMug! Well I may not be able to see your arms waving back and forth, but I can certainly read your comments. The New Skin Media team is launching a contest. Oh yes. It is going to be sweet. I mean heart candy, dark chocolate kind of sweet. In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I am asking you to post a comment response to this blog post.

How to enter:

Just answer this question: What do you love about SmugMug? And if you haven’t used it yet, please share what you love about photography!

Please include your name, valid email address, and a link to your current website and/or SmugMug account.

What can you win?

1 Year Subscription to SmugMug Pro learn more
Advanced SmugSkin SmugMug Customization learn more

A total value of $799.95!

Entry deadline: February 14, 2010 @ Midnight PDT

New Skin Media specializes in integrating custom design features with interactive media such as SmugMug and Wordpress blogs. We swear by clean designs, easy navigation and intuitive organization. We are known for our seamless integration between multi-platform medias.

Winner will be selected by a random number generator, determined by number of entries.

Thanks and good luck!
-Melissa

Whether you are starting your business from the ground up, or have decided to undergo a full-blown restructure of how you do business, branding is something that is key. It is the jumping off point for your entire operation. Branding is more than just logo design, but a logo is an excellent place to start. If you’ve been in the professional photography industry half as long as I have (and I haven’t been in very long!) you’ve been bombarded by all kinds of suggestions by the Pros on how to go about doing this. I’m going to take you through my journey based on my years of experience as a web/graphic designer, everything I’ve learned in the last year since we started our process of the creation of the Arken Studios brand.

I created New Skin Media back in ‘06. By that time I had been working for another web development company as a designer, but the entrepreneur in me needed to create my own brand. I’m sure many of you can relate. I went in with no real business plan, I just knew I wanted to create something that was an extension of myself, without simply using my name. Long story short, the decision process consisted of a combination of picking the name of a favorite song that had a double meaning in the design world, as well as seeing what domain names were available. It’s amazing how much Godaddy can influence your decision-making process! So, I had my name. I knew I wanted a logo to reflect a design skin, and I literally drafted up my current logo in about 2 hours. Now, I wouldn’t recommend this! It just so happened to work out for me 4 years later. The creation of Arken Studios was a different story. Arken Studios has been a work in progress for a few years now… I have been working with my mom and dad on building a photography studio – and we wanted to do everything right the first time instead of just diving in.

First step: Who is my target audience?

What kinds of clients do you want to attract? This is hugely important to the rest of the creation process. Are you a wedding photographer that wants to cater strictly to high-end clientele? Do you shoot children (I can’t help but giggle when I say that) and want to present yourself as colorful and playful? There are so many options here I cannot even begin to discuss, or even recommend, which direction to go here. All I can tell you is you need to go in knowing exactly who you want to aim at. It is the cornerstone of who you will become as a brand. Early on in the Arken Studios brainstorming process, before we were even calling ourselves Arken Studios, we knew we wanted to be a high-end boutique-style studio, with an emphasis on weddings and portraiture.

Second: What do I call myself?

Since we were coming from a place where there were three people involved, it made more sense to go with a studio name that was more than just “Ron Crain Photography” or “Crain Studios”. My dad is the senior photographer right now, but one day I will be, and I might not be a Crain anymore! We decided to go with Arken because that was the name of my dad’s Mechanical Design company that he had run for over 20 years – Arken Designs. He had had that name since I was a lil tyke, so it was just as much a part of the family identity as our name, as far as I was concerned. My dad came up with Arken based on the Arkenstone from one of his favorite books, J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit… “the jewel of all jewels”, it was called. (It was also a good idea to have a business name that started with an ‘A’ so it could be near the top of alphabetical business listings.) But most of all, it was a good fit for us. We wanted to portray ourselves as a high-end boutique studio.  We were able to pick something that had meaning to us, that could also sound very high-end.

So, my advice is, go with something that means something to you, and that coincides with the target audience you have selected. And don’t forget to check and see that there is an appropriate domain name available to match! It will make your business a lot easier to find for your clients. (Try not to make it something terribly long either.)

Third: Logo design

The Arken Studios logo creation process was a long and arduous journey, to say the least. Let me start off by saying, I highly recommend working with a professional graphic artist here. There are so many things to consider that you may not be aware of. I’m going to give you some suggestions, but unless you know how to work some magic in Adobe Illustrator, you probably won’t get the results you want.

Take into consideration what you know so far. You know who your target audience is, and you know your name. How can you deliver the message of each with just one simple image? You want it to be something that people look at and identify as you. It has to be unique, it has to speak for you. Arken Studios was high-end… so we wanted something that would portray that. What do you know about us by looking at our logo? We are classy. We are elegant. We are wine country. Keep in mind also that in most cases you will also be using your logo as a watermark. Will it look good in one solid flat color stamped on your images?

You MUST have your logo in vector format. This means it is fit to be applicable for both web and print medias. If you don’t know how to do this, all the more reason to work with someone that knows what they are doing. Work with your designer, no matter how much or how little of an idea you have for your design.

Fourth: Color Palette

When you have your logo set, and you are beginning to think about your key marketing tools (ie website, business cards, etc), it’s time to start thinking about color scheme. One can come before the other, or you can work on them at the same time. But both are very important. People often don’t think that the color scheme of your business is as important as your logo, but it can make or break you. Pick colors that compliment your image. Don’t pick more than 3 primary colors for your designs. Be careful not to over-do the eye. Often times simplicity speaks more loudly than intricacy.

A really good tool to use when thinking of color schemes is Adobe’s Kuler website. It’s easy to get lost in there, it’s really fun.

Finally: Putting it all together

Remember, a sweet logo is just the beginning. You have to have some real design know-how to create what you do with it. Your website isn’t a good marketing tool unless it’s put together correctly. Your business cards and print material shouldn’t be too busy. And also remember that your brand extends to you, too. Dress to suit your brand and present yourself in a manner that backs up everything you’ve worked so hard to produce. People will feed off of your personality and your confidence and are more likely to hire you when they feel you are consistent with your image.

I hope I have maybe helped give some direction and pointed you in the right direction. Let me know if anything is unclear and I will try to clarify, or if you’d like any feedback on what you’re working on. Thanks!!

2010 is bringing a lot of excitement for SmugMug Customizations!!! We are so happy to be getting so much attention from professional photographers and newbies alike.

Photographer Gustavo Fernandez recently called New Skin Media’s customizations “the most gorgeous designs I have seen out there. You cannot even tell they are based on the Smugmug platform.”

Check out our latest site which has been generating a lot of buzz, my family’s own Arken Studios. Notice how when you click on ‘clients’ it takes you to the SmugMug interface, yet still maintains the same style as if you never left the site. We can make this happen for your site too! Help set a new standard in sleek, comprehensive and seamless navigation. Contact me with any inquiries.

Hi everybody! We’ve got a new look and a new business model – now announcing SmugMug Customizations! SmugMug is a digital photo sharing site that allows photographers to easily create, manage,  maintain and sell their collections of photographs and and products. The system is easy to use for both site admin and client alike. If you’ve registered for a SmugMug Pro account and fallen in love already, and decided to take that extra step to brand it and make it your own, we can make that possible for you. Review your options and decide which situation might best fit your needs and then let me know!

As a photographer myself, I will also use my blog to post what I am up to from time to time. There are a lot of fun activities around the San Francisco Bay Area, so anyone in the area that wants to know of different activities and meetups, subscribe to my blog or become a fan on facebook and stay in the loop!