We kept a lot of the site’s basic structure, but widening the main content area allowed us to use larger product photos which really showcase Lisa’s fabulous wares. The big picture on the front page now links to a featured category, which Lisa can switch out every month.

And she was VERY excited to make use of Shopify‘s built-in blogging feature! Previously she’d just linked to an external blog in her footer, but now that Shopify can handle comments and whatnot there was no reason to keep things separate. We were able to transfer all her old posts so she only needs to update in one place. Handy!

The new site features custom drop-down menus, special overview pages to display grouped collections, and a background that changes color depending on the section. We also used Typekit for the headers to give it a bit of whimsy.

The front page features a slideshow & interior pages each have a custom header image to give them an extra personal touch.

We used TypeKit for the cursive font (Bickham) and enabled the custom background feature inside WordPress so that Elizabeth can give her site a little facelift any time she wants to.

We stuck with Amy’s existing color palette of light blue and white, and Amy chose a fabulous font for her text (Typekit makes that part a breeze). Using WordPress’ new Custom Header feature, we were able to it up so Amy can switch out her blog’s header whenever the mood strikes – and with all these beautiful photos to choose from, the mood will strike often!

The slideshow on the home page and the portfolio pages uses jQuery rather than Flash, so it can be viewed on devices like the iPhone and the iPad. But we didn’t stop there: using WPTouch Pro, we created a mobile-specific version of Amy’s site that gives smartphone users a customized landing page and a special reduced-size image gallery.

Part 1 of 2 (Matt will post his in the next few days).

Jessica’s list of must-have apps: I work exclusively on a Mac (well, two, actually) so these are all Mac-friendly.

Transmit

I was pretty meh on the subject of FTP clients until I tried Transmit. Now I don’t know what I did without it.

Fluid

See above re: FTP clients and switch for site specific browsers. I finally installed Fluid on a whim and…wow, was I ever wrong. It’s given me a whole new appreciation for my Dock.

TextMate

Can’t rave enough about my love of TextMate. Makes coding a breeze.

Google Docs

We keep the majority of our paperwork (contracts, contract templates, etc.) on Google Docs. We can share amongst ourselves and access files from anywhere – handy when you’re constantly shuttling between office and home office. Also: it’s not Word!

Google Apps

We finally switched our couldbe studios email over to Google Apps, and it’s been great.

Basecamp

For all our project management needs.

Highrise

Keeps track of our contacts.

Ma.gnolia

Social linkage.

Firefox

And, of course, what’s Firefox without extensions? I use Firebug, Foxmarks, 1Password and ColorZilla.

Campaign Monitor

Not only does Campaign Monitor make it easy to send and track email newsletters, it makes setting up managed accounts for clients a breeze.

Reinvigorate

I personally loathe Google Analytics, but none of the other free or low-cost offerings seemed much better. Enter Reinvigorate. They’re in private beta right now, but we were lucky enough to get in. And I do mean lucky: Reinvigorate is a fabulous service, and I can’t imagine switching.

DropSend

When we’ve got to email huge files to clients or printers, DropSend is invaluable.

Blinksale

Simple and easy to use. We looked at FreshBooks, but given our requirements Blinksale is a better fit.

Lisa Komer, Munchkin Designs’ owner, makes the most adorable custom-designed printed materials. And her site is pretty cute, too, if we do say so ourselves. Drop by and check out her new line of tees!

The Green Girls are cool people with cool, eco-friendly products, so check ‘em out folks!

We’re really proud of the site, which is a wordpress / shopify integration that we think works quite well.

Could we replicate the effect in Photoshop? Well, sort of, but it wouldn’t be easy or 100% right.

There is also a random element to using the lensbaby that we love. Often we don’t get the picture we thought we were getting, but what we do get is even better.

Things we love about it:
1. The pictures we take with this are like nothing else we’ve done.
2. Craig Strong (President and Co-Founder) of lensbabies is a truly nice guy, as are his crew and the dedicated lensbaby users.
3. They are locally made here in Portland, OR
4. It looks like a cross between a lunar lander and a vaccum hose.

These things definitely have a bit of a learning curve, but classes and workshops are available (I took one and had a wonderful time). If you get a chance we recommend you try one out, they’re just too fun to miss out on.

Like a lot of designers who work with Shopify we were mystified. We felt betrayed by people who we had previously sung the praises of, we scratched our heads and fumed. We wrote forum posts questioning their methods, sent them feedback and commiserated with other designers over the way that it was handled.

The problem we had with the situation was not the new rates which are actually quite reasonable, but that the change was carried out in secrecy, which left us in a potentially sticky spot as we had bids out to potential clients which were based on their old pricing model, and even worse projects currently being developed that had their pricing model changed! How were we supposed to handle that? We’d quoted people based on their old pricing model, started working on the site and then had it change mid-way through.

Outrage! Snarl! All of that!

Well, as it turned out the folks at Jaded Pixel grandfathered all of our projects back to the old pricing without any fuss, so it worked out all right. And, even better they are making a real effort to improve their communication with their user base and the design community.

After dropping the pricing change on us in secrecy, they have actually been fairly open about the reasons.

Tobias Lütke, JadedPixel’s co-founder had this to say:

“First of all, there was no announcement because it was not practical in our situation for two reasons:

a) There is no change to any of our existing customers. The only thing which changes to people who use Shopify is that the signup page of our brochure page quotes a different pricing structure. We grandfathered every one of our existing customers for lifetime. This includes people who were in the middle of setting up a store and had no prior sales yet. It did not however include people on demo accounts ( the ones which say that they are automatically deleted ). However we have grandfathered everyone who send us an email with a demo account if the store was about to be launched.

b) Because shopify is free in signup we could not announce this change because it would have meant that people would have set up hundreds of accounts to be grandfathered which they could then sell later on to people who feel that the old pricing system was better.

Speaking of which, i know that the feedback here on the blog is pretty negative but this is by no means a fair reflection of the feedback we are receiving here at jadedPixel. A lot of our customers are saving a good deal of money and expect to save even more when they grow bigger. The only pricing model was prohibitory expensive to some of our clients and this had to be addressed.

That being said, we are incredibly sorry about the inconveniences the switch may have caused to our designers, advocates and pitchers out there. We are establishing a new communication channel with our affiliates so that such changes can be announced in a controlled manner. Not that there are any more such changes in the pipeline, mind you.

Thank you for understanding. We launched with a pricing scheme which was unsustainable in the long run and had to correct the problem. We believe that the shopify software delivers value far greater then its cost and we hope you think the same, especially with the new pricing system.”

Perhaps the best thing to come out of this however is that Jaded Pixel is now taking a very proactive stance on improving their communication with the designers who build the themes and sell the storefronts. Today they announced the creation of what they are calling the Shopify Advisory Council. Which basically is a group of designers and users of Shopify who will act as a sort of think-tank for customer relations.

Jaded Pixel’s willingness to admit that they made a mistake with the way they handled things recently and their willingness to learn from their mistakes has done much to restore our faith in them and their platform.