Squaremuse Market Designer Spotlight: April Zelenka

Keeping up with our Designer Spotlight series, we’re thrilled to introduce April Zelenka, a talented photographer and designer at Third West Studio.

April has a taste for minimal design, striking imagery, and bold fonts. Odessa, the gorgeous Squarespace template she created for Squaremuse Market, is proof of that. We are happy to meet her for a quick chat and learn more about her design journey and secrets. Enjoy!

HI APRIL! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR CHATTING WITH US TODAY. PLEASE, TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF!

I'm a Wisconsin-based graphic designer and photographer. My career started as an Apple employee going through a management training program. I was one of 250 global applicants accepted into the program. From there I realized I wasn't going to be happy unless I was being creative in some way, shape, or form.

After leaving Apple I landed my first "real" design job at an advertising agency where I was responsible for designing billboards. I loved that job, but while simultaneously running a wedding photography business, something had to be given up. In 2015 I left to pursue entrepreneurship full-time and haven't looked back since. After leaving the agency I started working with clients on web design and branding projects.

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

Imagery plays a HUGE role in a brand and I think it's what can make or break a successful branding campaign. One of my strengths is being able to curate imagery. I could spend hours building mood boards!

WHO IS YOUR TYPICAL CLIENT?

I enjoy working with other small businesses. Because I was a wedding photographer, I worked with a lot of creatives in the wedding industry. One of my favorite non-wedding projects was doing the branding for a new apartment complex in Madison, Wisconsin. It's cool to see your logo on the outside of a building!

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR DESIGN STYLE?

Minimal & imagery-heavy. I love playing with typography and neutral colors. I love when designers can play with bright colors, but that's just not my jam.

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

Can I say both? I think the two go hand in hand when creating a successful brand. I can spend the whole day building a beautiful brand, but if the client doesn't have the content to back it up, there is a disconnect in the final product. This is why I'd recommend organizing a branding photoshoot.

WHERE DO YOU FIND INSPIRATION FOR NEW DESIGNS?

I am obsessed with interiors and I'm currently taking an interior design course. I love getting inspiration from places other than someone else's designs. I also subscribe to a lot of travel magazines. Since I'm not traveling as much as I did before having a kid, I like to get my fix from those magazines.

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

A sexy typeface.

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

I've been working on Squarespace since 2015 but did venture over to WordPress when I used Flothemes. You can't go wrong with those two.

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

Everyone at Squaremuse is fantastic! I love how much the team truly cares about the people behind the designs as much as they do about the product.

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

Start with an ideal customer. Make a profile of a client you'd like to buy the template and design it based on those parameters. If you speak to all, you speak to no one.