Use These Branding Assets to Create a Website That Feels Put Together
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This is Blog Post 2 in a 4-part Building Your Business series. Read them all here:
Post 1: Using (or thinking about using) Squarespace? Here’s how to make it so much better
Post 2: These branding assets will help you create a website that feels put together
Post 3: Your website looks great. So where are all the inquiries?
Post 4: 8 systems & tools that protect your business & simplify your day-to-day
Fonts, Colors, and Photos That Shape a Strong Visual Brand
In this post I shared resources to choose your website platform and if you choose Squarespace, some tips & resources.
You know your website and brand need to look professional, but where do you even start with colors, fonts, and photos?
Here are some of my trusted go-to’s for all the branding parts of your business:
For fonts:
Finding the right fonts is surprisingly tricky - too basic and you blend in with everyone else, too fancy and suddenly your website looks like chaos incarnate.
Jen Wagner is basically the font whisperer of the design world. I love her stuff so much. Her library is massive (we're talking 60+ font families!) and somehow every single one hits that sweet spot between personality and professionalism. Get 15% off any of her fonts with my affiliate link.
Honestly, you could close your eyes and pick any JWCo font and end up with something that looks ah-mazing on both your website and your social graphics. Her fonts have a magical quality of looking current without feeling trendy - so you won't need to rebrand in six months when the latest font fad dies out.
Some of my personal favorite JW fonts are:
Editor’s Note Family (I’d use for Display/Header fonts, thought Editor’s Note Text is a good option for body font too)
Perfectly Nineties (I’d use for Display/Header fonts)
Essential Sans (I’d use for Body/Paragraph font)
Figura Sans (I’d use for Body/Paragraph font)
Neue Swiss (I’d use for Body/Paragraph font though a lot of popular brands use this for Header text too)
Founder’s Hand (Use sparingly as an accent font)
Nicky Laatz - I found her on Instagram and fell in love with her fonts and doodles. She's a UK-based typographer who designs original typefaces including some you've probably seen around like Eighties Comeback, Very Vogue, and my newest favorite, a handwritten script called Postcards from Portugal.
Tropical Type - Australian boutique foundry creating unique display fonts at affordable prices ($10-$30), with generous licensing and a free bonus font with every purchase. Founded specifically for small studios, freelancers and solopreneurs. You can buy bundles which are a great deal, or if you just one or two, Serious Sans is a great body font and Disco Deco is a fantastic display font.
Honorable Mentions
Studio 2am - an Aussie-based company, they have a billion fonts, including a ton of really nice display headers and funky geometric fonts. Some of my favorites are NEGKOMIS, Pavilion, Swarsh Daisy, and Altotype (a san-serif).
Future Fonts - a Portland OR based font foundry, founded by a husband and wife team. I saw them speak at Creative Mornings and have been a fan ever since.
Creative Market - this is a reseller of type creators, but it’s a great place to browse and find anything your heart desires.
For colors:
Coolors.co - Fast color palette generator where you press spacebar to create random palettes, lock colors you like, and generate new combinations around them. Includes contrast checking and color extraction from images. They have a robust free version, or a very affordable paid version if you want to upgrade. (I did a few years ago and haven't looked back.)
Color Palette Studio - Y'all, this tool is my FAVE. If you've ever struggled to create color palettes that actually work together, this is about to change your life. Here's why I love it:
Choose from over ten different design styles like Bauhaus, Vaporwave, Cottagecore, Art Deco, Botanical, Bold and Vibrant (and more!)
Each style comes with a list of common visual elements, a short video from Sam (co-founder of The Color Palette Studio), AND a custom-curated Pinterest inspo board
(And you can also just build your own, if you want to check accessibility or export for a client!)
Step-by-step "recipes" for foolproof color combinations
AI Name Generator to come up with fun, on-brand names like ‘Toasted Marshmallow” or “Serene Sky Blue”
Built-in high-contrast, accessibility testing
Find all of the pairings with a contrast score of 4.5 or higher in just one easy click
Easily export your color palettes and send them off to your client in minutes
Get 10% off this or any of their other tools (I have them all, love 'em all) with this affiliate link.
For stock photos:
Paid Stock Photo Memberships:
HauteStock (← aff. link, get 15% off) - Styled, feminine lifestyle photos.
Styled Stock (← aff. link) - Modern, clean business imagery
Editorial Stock Images (← aff. link) - Professional editorial-style shots
Vault Stock (← aff. link) - Lifestyle photos with casual, authentic feel
TipThese paid memberships all offer free photo packs when you sign up for their mailing list, so you can check out their aesthetic, sample the photos, and see which membership is right for you.
Honorable mentions:
Death to Stock- Paid. This the membership for the cool kids.
Envato - Paid. Not just photos, they have so many resources.
Unsplash - Free (with paid option)
Free Stock Photos:
Pexels - Database of over 3.2 million free photos and videos with no attribution required (owned by Canva!). One of my favorite contributors with a BUNCH of collections to wade through is Cottonbro Studios.
Kaboompics - Curated free photos organized into cohesive collections with consistent aesthetic. Photos are not random snapshots; they are from curated, planned photoshoots (so more consistency/style than many stock sites). They lean into modern, lifestyle-driven stock photos: think clean, stylish, Instagram-ready visuals with consistent color palettes and a warm, approachable vibe, less corporate and more chic everyday aesthetic.
Dupe Photos - Platform founded by Gen Z entrepreneurs focused on Pinterest-worthy, social media-style imagery that looks authentic rather than traditional stock photos. These are a seriously good option for natural, vibey photos. (You can also upload your own photos for UGC.)
Want to know more about how to use fonts, sample color palettes and best practices, and and more design resources?
Check out these blog posts:
I walk through font selection in my Squarespace font pairings and Google font pairings posts. For colors, check out my accessible Squarespace color palettes guide and this free color palette extension. I reviewed one of my go-to stock photo sources in my Styled Stock Society review.
