a few of our favorite things
HOSTING
BLUEHOST
We love and highly recommend Bluehost for hosting. Bluehost is affordable and has outstanding 24/7 customer service. They also provide automated backups of your files and databases. They make installing WordPress a snap with their one-click installation process. For step-by-step instructions on setting up a hosting account and installing self-hosted WordPress, follow this tutorial.
FRAMEWORK & THEMES
GENESIS FRAMEWORK
We use the Genesis framework in all of our WordPress designs because of its speed and customizability. Genesis comes free with our WordPress designs and is one of the most solid frameworks out there.
PREMIUM STUDIOPRESS THEMES
We also use Premium StudioPress themes in our custom designs because they are some of the most professional looking themes, allow for endless customization, and are cleanly coded.
E-COMMERCE
WOOCOMMERCE
If you want to sell items on your site, WooCommerce is the way to go. WooCommerce gives you the control to sell anything and is our favorite eCommerce solution. To have us help you in getting this set up on your site, visit our blog accessories shop and purchase the eCommerce option.
FONTS
CREATIVE MARKET
We are just a little bit obsessed with Creative Market. Their selection of hand-drawn, calligraphy, watercolor, and brush fonts is out of this world! Go here to view their huge selection of gorgeous, affordable fonts.
MYFONTS
MyFonts is another favorite go to place for stunning fonts. They also provide a service called WhatTheFont that helps you identify the names of fonts you like.
COLOR INSPIRATION
DESIGN-SEEDS
Design-seeds is our absolute favorite color inspiration site! This site pulls colors from gorgeous images and creates amazing color palettes. You can also view our own collection of gorgeous color palettes here and on Pinterest here.
NEWSLETTER SERVICE
MAILCHIMP
Mailchimp is the mailing list service we use here at Designer Blogs and we highly recommend it. MailChimp allows you to start a mailing list completely free! You don’t have to purchase a plan until you’ve accumulated 2000+ subscribers. From that point on, you can upgrade as your list grows. Click here to learn how to set a mailing list up.
FREE PHOTO EDITING SERVICES
Pixlr
Pixlr is a great online photo editor that makes resizing and cropping images a snap. It contains all the tools you need for basic photo editing.
Canva
Canva is a simple, drag-and-drop, design software that’s completely online and free to use. Great for creating photo collages or headers.
FREE USE PHOTOS
UNSPLASH
Unsplash is chuck-full of stunning high-resolution images. These images are free to download and you can do whatever you want with them. Ten new photos are added every ten days.
DEATH TO THE STOCK
Death to the Stock delivers 10 stunning photos to your inbox each month. Signing up for their emails is such a great way to keep a library of killer photos for future use. Make sure to review their license before signing up.
PIXABAY
Pixabay gives you access to absolutely free vectors, drawings and photos. The site is organized nicely and makes things super easy to find. You can use any of their images without attribution in digital and printed form. Be sure to review their terms before using their images.
MORGUEFILE
MorgueFile has photos contributed by artists who are willing to let you use their work for free. Attribution isn’t even required!
STYLED STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY
CREATIVE MARKET
Creative Market is also our go to place for gorgeous styled stock photography. Just go here and enter “styled stock photography” into the search box to pull up an amazing collection of gorgeous, affordable images.
