It started with a simple goal: create a fresh homepage - an image and a heading for my website.
My vision was clear: a side-to-side carousel of images cycling through a few variations, styled in a seamless, edge-to-edge full bleed - including bleeding the imagery up and underneath the top navigation menu.
The website platform’s answer? Not possible.
Frustrated, I looked at my options. I manipulated the template as far as it would go, but every tweak diluted the original concept. The tool restricted my idea to a rigid, boxed-in banner style instead of a true full bleed.
But being old school, I wanted to have complete creative control and preferred to figure it out through direct ‘manual’ experimentation.
I started playing with both the design elements and the platform’s hidden workarounds. In the middle of that hands-on tinkering, something unexpected happened: I stumbled upon a new visual direction. Not only did it look striking, but it sent a stronger message than what I had originally planned.
Did I reach out to support? Yes. They did their best, admitted the system couldn't handle what I wanted, and promised to add it to their "future updates" list. But waiting wasn't an option.
Whether you're facing a stubborn website template, a client brand identity missing its vector files, or an unwise color mandate, the job remains the same: solve for the variable.
Find the creative insight that unlocks the solution. Putting it more gently: deliver the strategic objective regardless of technical hurdles. Clever problem-solving isn't a patch; it's a bypassing of limitations—it’s the heart of our business.
Below are the 3 images I wanted to have full bleed top to bottom and left to right. Including most specifically, the ability to bleed the imagery up and under the top navigation menu! As you ‘keep an eye on my website’ you will see them rotate, not momentarily but randomly, go have a look.
Whether the website template does not work, or the brand identity has no original to modify, or the client requires a specific but unwise colour choice - you have to solve for the variable. OR - solve for the insight that unlocks the solution - in marketing terms. To put it directly - solve the problem whatever the challenges may be!
— the brand auditor —