We’re pleased as punch to announce our latest launch: Moody Eyes Online!

We jumped at the chance to take on this project, since at least half of couldbe studios is blind as a bat (though the other half got his first pair of glasses recently – which counts, even if he only needs them when he spends too long on the computer) and most other online glasses retailers…well, let’s just say we had lots of ideas! The Moody Eyes guys let us take the design lead, and the result is a site that makes us really want another pair of glasses.

The collections are hand-picked and showcase the frames, and each collection features a piece of pop art by the fabulously talented Hillary White. The whole thing has a retro feel without being too kitschy, which really complements the product lines.

One of the coolest (and most developmentally challenging) features is the prescription form – not only did we integrate it with the product pages, but we tied it to customer accounts so that if you enter your information once, it will automatically populate the next time you order glasses. Cool, right?

When we announced the launch of the Clink Room last month we said the redesigned Shop was right around the corner – and we meant it! Check out the custom Shopify theme we put together for Casey & Jason. Of course it looks cool, thanks to their amazing graphics, but the really neat thing about it is how it functions behind the scenes. We made it as easy as possible to switch out the background graphics and the sidebar links so that the site will always look fresh. (One of the things we love about designing for Shopify: custom theme settings!)

We’re really excited to announce the launch of the new blog for The Clink Room – and not just because we had a hand in making it! The Clink Room guys do fantastic design work – they’re the people who do the official logos for Major League and Minor League Baseball teams – & we’ve had a blast doing this project. We got to flex our layout muscles getting the site to look just right, and we even got to create our first mobile site! Seriously, it’s very cool and all of you with iPhones or Android handsets should check it out, stat.

We’ll be launching the revamped Shopify store for these guys very soon, too – keep your eye out for the announcement.

We’ve been working like crazy on client sites, but that doesn’t mean we can’t give our own site an update every now and again. The couldbe logo has gone through some pretty major changes through the years, but one thing has remained the same: the paper airplane. Everyone loved the paper airplane, but we felt it was missing some undefinable something. You know when a word is on the tip of your tongue? Like that, only involving Photoshop.

But now our beloved paper airplane has had the makeover it deserves, and we love it! We gave the typography a bit of a touch-up as well.

Let us know your thoughts in the comments!

We love doing Shopify sites, and this one was a blast!

Henry needed a site to showcase his fabulous new collection of luxury yoga towels. His design preference was upscale minimalism, and the site reflects that with a clean white background and dark gray typography. The only splash of color comes from the towels, which take center stage on the home page slideshow.

Henry’s fabulous photography definitely took this site to the next level. Visit Baktuli.com to check it out yourself!

We were lucky enough to do the layout and coding for the Savvima website, and it turned out great! Using Avi & Naomi’s lovely custom graphics, we were able to bring to life their vision of a fully-featured news blog, featuring post excerpts and thumbnails as well as a “Featured Posts” slider on the front page, a custom navigational menu, and a special recipes section.

Since Savvima was already built on WordPress, we were able to use plugins to get the site up and running quickly and painlessly. The front page slideshow uses the fabulous Smooth Slider, which we highly recommend.

Check out the site in action at Savvima.com!

We’ve talked about Molly Mutt before, and they are seriously one of our all-time favorite clients to work with, so we were very excited when they told us they wanted to add another store to their Magento site. They already were selling the coolest dog beds ever, so expanding into the world of cats made perfect sense.

Check them out online at MollyMeow.com and of course MollyMutt.com.

And now: a promo!

Our WordPress book is on shelves now! The WordPress Visual QuickStart Guide from Peachpit Press is the go-to resource for all your WordPress-related questions, and we had a blast bringing it to life.

But what if you don’t have time to read the book and build a site yourself? Never fear! We’re all about spreading the WordPress love, and with that in mind we’re running a limited-time promo just for our clients and fans.

During the month of February, we will build you a custom WordPress theme from scratch for just $1000.

Seriously – $1000! That’s 1/3 off our regular price! Slots are filling up fast, so book now to make sure you get this deal. (Price is for a standard theme only; any customization beyond design/layout will run a bit extra.)

Itching for a copy of our new book, the WordPress Visual QuickStart Guide? Of course you are, and we’re here to help.

The book hits stores on November 23, and over the course of the next couple of weeks we’ll be giving away copies to celebrate.

For now, you can sign up for our email newsletter over on our Facebook page; one lucky winner will be chosen at the end of the day tomorrow (November 20). And while you’re there, become a fan of couldbe studios!

More to come…keep your eye on this space.

So changes are ahead, and afoot, and all parts in between. We’re restructuring the business, putting the finishing touches on the book (which you can totally pre-order right here), and trying out this new financial model I think they call “budgeting.”

Most importantly we’re turning our focus more intently than ever on making couldbe studios into the best web design studio it can be, starting by giving thanks to all our fabulous clients. If you haven’t checked out our portfolio in a while, click on over and take a look at some of the terrific small businesses we’ve had the pleasure of working with.

If you’re on Facebook or Twitter, feel free to add us! We’ll be posting updates in both places regularly, and who knows, we might just unveil a special offer or two.