Squarespace Spotlight: Chicago Writer, Photographer Finally Has Place To Put Writing, Photography

By Sponsor in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 5, 2015 6:00AM

A month ago, we asked Squarespace users in the Chicagoist universe to come forward and shamelessly plug their website for a feature on our site. Well, it's time! Here's our subject on what they do and how, exactly, Squarespace has made it that much more awesome.

Jay Prufrock is a Chicago-based writer, photographer, writographer. She hosts her work on Squarespace—check it out here.

So what made you decide to start a website? I've had many blogs over the years, each dedicated to a select creative pursuit. I wanted one place to house all of these endeavors - writing, photography, something experimental I call "writography," music, etc. But there was another piece of the puzzle I wanted to add to my site: a professional portfolio that housed writing samples from my work as an advertising copywriter and journalist. Plus, I'd just finished a sitcom spec-writing class at iO Theater, and I really wanted to stay active in comedic writing. A new website was just the motivation I needed, and I wanted it to look good. I heard an ad for Squarespace on the Comedy Bang! Bang! podcast back in August, and it piqued my interest.

What made you choose Squarespace over your other options? Their templates lured me in, but I stayed for the customer service. They have so many great designs for you to work with, and I test drove a few during my free trial. But I ran into a couple issues—most likely user error—early on, and reached out to their help desk each time. They were prompt, courteous and thorough. They won me over when one customer service rep responded to my inquiry by including actual videos to walk me through what I was trying to do. They used my own website for the video, so I know it was shot just for me. Who else out there does that?

Did you have a website before this? I've had a few blogs prior to this, but I was never completely happy with how they looked. This Squarespace site is my first-ever attempt to combine various creative pursuits into a single, easy-to-navigate hub.

What part of your site are you most proud of? The writing blog on my homepage—which consists primarily of satire—has been a lot of fun to work on. But the "writography" section of my page is, I think, a fairly unique pursuit. I attempt to tell a fictional narrative—to explain the scene depicted in a photograph, usually one of my own—in under 100 words.

Any features that surprised you? I was surprised by the quality of the icons that are free to paying members. The icon library is immense, and they're all really well done. The icon that exists on my site today isn't exactly what Squarespace offers, and I hope they're OK with what I did, because I used one of their boxing glove icons, and did some light Photoshop work to anthropomorphize it a bit. In other words: I gave it a face. But, honestly, you don't have to know how to use Photoshop or InDesign to make something cool. You could use what they offer, exactly as it exists, and still have something pretty special.

Any features that seem especially suited to your "brand"? Being able to grid out photos has been great for both my photography and writography pages. I like being able to showcase the variety in a way that doesn't cause each image to compete for attention. I also really dig the option to password-protect pages. That enabled me to make the majority of my site public, while restricting who has access to my portfolio.

Were you concerned about the cost versus a free service? I hesitated on the cost, sure. Everything I've used in the past was free, and I'm a self-professed cheapskate. But when I looked at the relatively minimal cost, and saw how that could afford me the ability to create something a little more memorable, it was worth it.

How long did it take you to put your site together? I worked on it for about three weeks before I took it live, though to be fair I only had time to work on it weeknights and weekends.

Have you ever done web design? Were you afraid a site you made would come out weird or unprofessional at all? I've designed several blogs and one website using a free service, though I used HTML to customize those, and that didn't come in handy here. I know just enough CSS to potentially ruin my own site if I'm not careful, so I generally stuck to more push-button customization. In terms of finished design, I was fairly confident with Squarespace, on the basis of them giving you a more solid foundation (i.e. sleek design templates) to start with. I quickly became addicted to improving upon it, and making it my own.

Do you update regularly? I post every day, in a way—ForeShadowBoxer.com links to my Instagram and Twitter accounts, both of which I update daily. In terms of writing, lately I've been averaging 3-4 entries a week, though the goal is to eventually double that. I take dozens of pictures a day, and I post my favorites to ForeShadowBoxer.com in batches. But when it comes to my musical posts, those are comparatively rare. I fiddle around with a few different instruments fairly often, but most of the songs that result are far too embarrassing to share. I'm much more reserved when it comes to that medium, owing in large part to a lack of any formal musical training.

Have you noticed more leads or interest since your site's been up? The response to ForeShadowBoxer has been really positive so far, though if there's one thing I've learned from years of blogging, it's that it can be tough to develop a following. It takes time. I'll keep doing what I'm doing, with my sights set on helping people laugh, smile and/or see the ordinary in a new and unusual way.

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