Squaremuse Market Designer Spotlight: Amber Seagraves

We are fortunate to collaborate with designers of her caliber, and we hope you enjoy this interview where she gives some insight into the design process as well as some tips for designers thinking about creating templates.

HI AMBER! IT’S GREAT TO HAVE YOU HERE. TO BEGIN WITH, TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOUR STUDIO.

I’ve been a designer for about 25 years. Before launching my design studio in 2015, I lived and worked in London, NYC, and Los Angeles for over 20 years. Then, in 2020, I relocated to my hometown St. Louis, Missouri to be closer to my family. This has been a monumental shift for me, and I’ve really enjoyed living this new, slow-paced life… My home is surrounded by trails and parks and I’ve found that time spent in nature benefits my workflow so much!

Studio Seagraves’ other team members currently work remotely from Los Angeles and Vancouver. Most of our clients are located in California and New York, but we welcome projects from anywhere in the world. Along with web design, branding, and graphic design, our studio also offers creative direction, and we love working with brands to help them fine-tune their products and production models. We’re really a one-stop-shop for launching a business!

Brand design for Comerford Collection

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN DESIGN? WHAT LED YOU TO THIS CAREER?

I originally studied Fashion Design in college and received my BFA. During this time I did an internship in New York City, which led to my first fashion jobs in London and NYC. I started my career in menswear design for JCrew, which then led to positions as a designer with boutique design companies such as White + Warren and global companies including Ralph Lauren and Guess Jeans. All in, I spent about 17 years working full-time as a clothing designer before launching my own studio.

When I worked at the corporate level, I wore many hats. I designed clothing, but I also had my hand in branding. I oversaw the graphic design team where I approved branding such as labels, hangtags, and t-shirt graphics. I also worked closely with our e-commerce teams to provide product details, styling, and creative direction. I loved these aspects of my job, so when I started my design studio I originally chose to focus on product design consulting and my own collection, Lasso Abode — a home and travel collection that sold in stores across the country.

Lasso Abode had a very distinct aesthetic, and through creating my product line and designing my own website and branding, I was given the opportunity to consult for interior designers and brick and mortar stores who were after the same look. This inspired me to learn more about web design and coding, which ultimately led to the founding of Studio Seagraves.

Website design for DeKor

HOW DO YOU THINK YOUR PREVIOUS BACKGROUND HELPS IN YOUR DESIGN CAREER?

My fashion career was the perfect background for what I’m doing now. It taught me the fundamentals of design, trend research, color, and mood direction — as well as the structure of working on large teams, strong management skills, and the ins and outs of working with overseas factories. Studio Seagraves primarily focuses on product and portfolio-based companies such as e-commerce sites, fashion brands, and interior designers, and my background in fashion design gives me the expertise to consult with them on product design and production practices to help them grow their companies.

WHAT DO YOU LOVE THE MOST ABOUT BEING A DESIGNER?

I can’t imagine not doing some sort of design! I always have multiple projects in the works both for clients and for my own product lines. It’s an amazing outlet for my creativity and inspiration to be able to move back and forth between different projects.

WHO IS YOUR TYPICAL CLIENT?

Studio Seagraves typically works with interior designers and home decor and fashion companies that are a bit more established. Kirsten Marie Inc. + Kassia Surf are two of our first clients that we still work with today. We love establishing ongoing relationships with the people we work with!

Web design for Kassia Surf

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR DESIGN STYLE?

Since my background is in menswear, my designs are typically a good balance between feminine and masculine. Most of what I do is quite modern, but I make sure to ground everything with heritage-inspired details. Lately, I’ve been drawn to dark and moody color schemes with neutral accents... maybe a little color pop here and there. Most of our clients are well established, so we like to make sure their websites won’t feel outdated after a year or two. I do this by using unexpected color combos, dynamic buttons, features, and layouts that make a website feel special and iconic — not overly trendy or gimmicky.

WHAT IS YOUR DESIGN PROCESS LIKE?

To get started, we do a deep dive with the client to understand their wants and needs, then we make personalized recommendations based on our expertise. From there, we create a color scheme and overall mood for the branding/website before moving into the design process in Adobe XD. Once the mockups are approved, we'll move into the web development phase. We also offer copywriting services to develop a clear brand voice. This really brings everything full circle and helps our clients connect with their audience in an authentic way.

Nusa Design Kit

WHAT COMES FIRST IN THE DESIGN PROCESS: AESTHETICS OR CONTENT?

It really depends on the situation and is often based on the imagery for the website. Sometimes clients have amazing lifestyle images that will influence the design, and other times we are starting from scratch and have to help out with the design for product photography and look book images. Our process also depends on the needs of the client. We’ve worked with brands that hired us to do the naming, copywriting, branding, web design, hangtags, etc. — in which case we started with aesthetics. And then other clients just need a little refresh, so aesthetics come after the content in that instance.

Brand design for Comerford Collection

WHERE DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION FOR NEW DESIGNS?

I maintain a library of designs and websites on our Notion dashboard that my entire team can access for inspiration. This is also where we keep our font inspiration library and coding references so it’s easy for everyone to reference. In my free time, I love looking at vintage catalogues, magazines, and art books. I have a collection from my days as a fashion designer and I regularly reference these materials for branding/web design inspiration.

WHO DO YOU FOLLOW THAT GETS YOU INSPIRED, AND WHY?

I’m always getting inspiration from RRL, Buck Mason, and Leanne Ford. I really can’t get enough of that moody, classic, heritage vibe! I also love Typology.com. The fonts and website are just my style.

WHAT’S YOUR ALL-TIME FAVORITE DESIGN TREND THAT NEVER GOES OUT OF STYLE?

As far as web design goes, I’ll never get bored of dynamic sites that have touches of animation. There are so many amazing options nowadays that, without movement, a site feels flat and uninspired. Typography is another big one — The right font makes a world of difference and will help a design stand the test of time.

WHAT WEBSITE PLATFORMS HAVE YOU WORKED ON BEFORE? DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE ONE?

It depends on the client. For our portfolio and service-based clients (such as interior designers), we recommend Squarespace because there are a lot of coding options and the templates are easy for clients to maintain. For e-commerce, we typically work on Shopify. We love Shopify because there are many add-on apps and plugins that support businesses, and the Shopify partners team offers wonderful affiliate perks. For our interior designer clients who also have e-commerce sites, we will merge the two platforms.

Indio Design Kit customized to fit a beauty brand

TELL US ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCE OF WORKING WITH SQUAREMUSE TEAM WITHIN THE MARKET.

We loved working with the Squaremuse Team! The process was so seamless and collaborative. When we presented concepts to Squaremuse, the team was great in giving feedback and working alongside us to achieve our vision. We’ve always admired how Squaremuse is on top of website trends and all the sites they offer are impeccably designed — Not to mention, the team is amazing to work with. We’re excited to roll out another template with them soon!

ANY TIPS FOR DESIGNERS WHO WANT TO START CREATING AND SELLING TEMPLATES?

Trust in your ability to teach yourself! There’s really helpful information on the internet about how to design templates and set up customer service. Do your research, and talk to other designers who have set up template sites to learn more about their experience. I highly recommend exploring how to design templates for both Squarespace and Shopify, and do your best to connect with other people who you can work alongside, like Squaremuse. Finding the right collaboration is key!