Designer Debrief is our behind-the-screen look at how Rocketspark designers build award-winning websites, and the choices that help a site win awards and do its job. This time the designer and the client are the same person. We sat down with Renee Davie from Quirk Studio, whose own studio website just picked up a Rocketspark Gold Design Award.
There's a twist, too. The site she replaced was also an award winner. Renee’s previous website took out Rocketspark's Site of the Month back in 2022, in the days before it became the Rocketspark Design Awards. So why rebuild an award winner? Because the business had outgrown it. And designing for yourself, turns out, is one of the hardest briefs going.
Meet the designer: Renee from Quirk Studio
Quirk Studio is a creative studio based in Tauranga working across branding, website design, photography, social media and ongoing design support. "A big part of what we do is helping businesses bring all those different pieces together so the brand feels really consistent across every touchpoint," Renee says.
That full-service offering grew out of necessity. "We originally started with just graphic design, brand and website design, but we were finding it was hard not having amazing photos to support the work, or clients needing their print collateral to look like their website. Being able to offer everything has really helped our clients, and us, take creative control."
The studio has grown too. Renee only took Quirk Studio full time around two years ago, unsure she'd even have enough work to sustain herself. "I definitely found as you put yourself out there more, the work comes in. I was working in the weekends, working after hours, pushing myself to the limit, so it was great to get someone on board." She's since added a junior designer and a content support person. "It's really fun to have more people to bounce creative ideas around and have a bit of a culture and a team."
Why the 2022 award winner had to go
"Our old website really reflected an earlier version of Quirk Studio," Renee says. "At the time it was just me as the sole designer, so the messaging was really centred around me, and mostly focused on our branding and website services. The website really needed to catch up with the business. I wanted it to feel more like a creative studio rather than an individual designer's portfolio."
The new site anchored to two goals. First, a proper portfolio hub for all the work that had piled up since 2022, curated into individual projects showing the photography and social media work alongside the branding and web design. Second, service pages that go deep. "Really nailing our services and what we offer," as Renee puts it, including breaking down what the process actually looks like from the client's end.
Being your own client is harder than it sounds
Ask Renee what's different about designing for yourself and she doesn't hesitate. "With clients, you usually have a really clear brief and a problem you're trying to solve. With yourself there are just so many possibilities and design avenues you can go down. The challenge was knowing when to stop experimenting and just commit to a direction."
A typical Quirk Studio client project takes about five weeks. This one took half a year. "We had all the content there, and we had as much time as we wanted to work on it. We didn't have constraints, but we should have."
She's honest about why. Client work always wins. "It's always on the back burner underneath all the client work. It's kind of funny, because that's what I do for all these other businesses, making sure all their marketing and touchpoints are up to date. I really need to treat myself like a client."
What finally got the site over the line was momentum from the team. Renee had been chipping away solo after hours, then brought her junior designer in to help collate the portfolio pieces and build out those pages. Once they'd figured out a structure for the service pages, they could replicate it across the site and the timeline started to flow.
A minimal base so the work can shine
The design brief Renee eventually settled on was simple, minimal and easy to navigate. The palette carries a small nod to the old site, keeping the cream and pairing it with a deep brown, and restraint is deliberate. "Sometimes we'll have branding projects that are super colourful with lots going on. It was important for our colour palette to be a minimal base, and the project to really stand out against it."
The brand wasn't even finished when the website started. Renee had the logo and colours locked, but left the typography open on purpose. "That's the fun part about the looseness of working for yourself. You can let the brand evolve in the actual touchpoints it's going to be used in. We wanted to see how the text would look in heavier blocks and how the headings would sit, so we left the typography side of the brand open as we developed the website."
Generous spacing matters as much as colour here. "The more space the better sometimes. It allows the user to digest each message one at a time and really take in what you're trying to say." Against that minimal base sit the details Renee is most proud of: a custom-coded carousel on the home page, hover effects across the services, and the portfolio page itself. "It's awesome to see all our projects together and displayed."
She also used Rocketspark's side-by-side view to design desktop and mobile at the same time. "In the past we jumped onto desktop first, but with the way people are viewing websites, it's great to be thinking about both at the same time."
Even the team photography stayed in-house. "It was actually just a quick photo with a tripod. I had my phone hidden under the table and we pressed the trigger." The shots were warmed up in editing to match the brand feel. Resourceful!
What's changed since launch
The clearest shift has been in the enquiries. The old site never showed the expanded services, so the expanded services never got enquiries. "We've had a huge boost in photography especially, and the social media as well. It's really cool to see those parts of the business growing."
Where those enquiries come from has shifted too. "Since launching we've noticed a lot more coming through Google. Having those individual service pages and really going in depth about each service has really bumped up our visibility, with people finding us through specific search terms."
Then there's the simple relief of shipping it. "Putting it live has been awesome. We've had so much positive feedback. It's definitely a relief to have that live and not have this huge piece of work hanging over us."
Renee's tips for designing your own site
Two lessons stand out from the build. The first is content before design. "Coming up with a clear strategy around the content, both the copywriting and the actual imagery, and having all of that ready to go before you launch into the design is so helpful. If there's placeholder content it doesn't really work, because you design around the content and it can change the whole layout."
The second is the one she'd tell her past self. Set timelines, even when the client is you. "Setting some milestones and timelines that you want to stick to really helps the flow of things."
Why Rocketspark
Renee builds on Rocketspark for the structure and the people. "I really love the structure that the design features allow. Having those separated stacks and the layout abilities is a really nice base to work from, and then you bring the creative aspects in on top." The thing she raves about to clients, though, is the support. "The team is just amazing at getting back to you with any questions. It's awesome to have a local team and a real person to talk to."
As for the Gold Design Award, winning for your own site hits differently. "It's probably one of the projects you're most critical of. You spend so much time tweaking things, so having that external recognition is really nice and super special for our own website."
You can see the award-winning site at quirkdesignstudio.co.nz, and follow the day-to-day life of the studio on Instagram at @quirkstudios.
