Hi Reader,

I watched a video this week that had me glued to the screen, I wanted to see how you felt about it too!

It was about perceived productivity — specifically how AI tools are designed (intentionally or not) to make you feel like you're crushing it, while actually eating the time you could've spent moving your business forward. 😬

One example (of the many shared) they gave was, someone opening an AI tool on their busiest day of the year... and accidentally spending a chunk of their day helping it organize their screenshots folder. (A folder they have not opened... ever?) 😂

They also discussed people who claim 3x-ing their income from 'a single AI automation' and vibe-coding their perfect CRM instead of using what's already out there. (Don't get me wrong; I've definitely entertained that last one –but stopped myself before it went further than just research!!) 🤭

That's not necessarily an AI problem, it's a us problem. We are really, really good at staying busy doing things that feel productive, but aren't. Reorganizing the screenshots folder. Rebuilding the pricing page for the fourth time. Refreshing Instagram to see if we have notifications yet. Checking our email. Creating new dashboards in Notion. ––Whatever that looks like for you!

Meanwhile, the stuff that's actually keeping clients from booking is still sitting there, untouched, because it's harder and less satisfying to fix those easy things, than it is to fix the screenshots folder.

And that kinda leads into this week's blog post topic, actually ––but I'll also link that YT video in the Gems section at the bottom so you can watch it if ya want! 👇

⏯️ REPLAY: Coaching Event with Kadie Smith, of Drop Cap Design

Questions that came up in the Q&A:

• What to do when a client already has some brand assets — do you adjust your price or hold your package rate?
• Is it worth adding patterns, icons, or illustrations, or is logo + color palette enough?
• How to structure options (logos, fonts, palettes) and whether to keep branding bundled or split it out
• What Kadie's full branding process looks like vs brand styling
• Strategic questions to ask clients before designing
• How to handle it when the client's personal taste clashes with what's actually strategic
• Alternatives to Adobe Illustrator, and resources for building logo/pattern skills
• Juggling timelines, payment plans, and multiple projects at once
• Building confidence as a self-taught designer

Watch the replay now →

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ENDING SOON!

📊 Web Design Financial Trends Survey

​Diane Whiddon and I are running our annual Web Design Financial Trends Survey again, and we'd love your input!

We're really curious to see how things have shifted since last year — the industry's been moving at lightning speed lately, and we're curious what that's doing to people's money & decisions around their financials.

It's completely anonymous and only takes about 5-7 minutes, so if you want to help us (and the design community) get a clearer picture of where things stand, we'd love to have your experience in the mix!

FAVOR: please share your thoughts! →

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🐾 A Quick Luna Update

Luna's latest oncology appointment brought some tough news — her body isn't really responding to any of the chemo treatments we've tried so far, and the road ahead looks pretty uncertain. For now she's still happy, still herself, still here, and we've got two more options to try before we shift into purely keeping her happy & comfortable. We're taking it one treatment at a time. 🐾

What I keep coming back to, though, is how grateful I am that I can show up for this. I book her treatments on weekdays when my inbox is quiet, and I can make the whole day about her — no time off requests from a boss, no rescheduling client projects, no guilt.

That's not an accident though, and it's taken years of work to build that kind of flexibility. This year, in this particular season, it's paying off in the most unexpected and most important ways. My business isn't perfect and my work/life balance is more "seasonal" than anything else — but having the freedom to be fully present when my family needs me most is something I never had when I worked for anyone else, and I'm feeling incredibly gratitude for that right now. 💛

This week's topic addresses some of the more common reasons why our clients can be confused about who to pick for their web designer, and why that prevents them from picking you. 😬 (Hint: it's not your portfolio!)

​3 Reasons Why You're Not Booking the Clients You Want​ Find Out Now

⏯️ Last week's post: ​A roundup of options across 26 categories, for web designers & service providers –all rated to help you find help this year & be more productive! (And no, you don't need ALL of them; that's not the point.)

✅ Tech Stack Checklist The checklist at the end of last week's post will let you select what sounds interesting, give you a place to add the current plan rate you want to be on, and copy the whole list to your clipboard to save as a wish list elsewhere. (Results are private to you.)

🏷️ 15% OFF Standout Squarespace® is open for enrollment at a discount through April 17th! ​Join Standout Squarespace®* before her upcoming Vibe-Code Bootcamp May 16 - June 16, 2026, & you'll get to follow along! (for students only)

⏯️ Perceived Productivity Alex & Andra, from Efficient App, aren't throwing away Claude, but they are using it as an example of how we often think we're being productive... when we actually aren't. #discuss

🖼️ Diverse Stock Photos In the Club, this thread asking for better options for stock photos that have more people of color has gotten a LOT of great responses & sparked some great discussion! I've found & bookmarked a few new options to put in my own tech stack, as well as shared a few of my own bookmarks too.

⏯️ BugSmash (Client Feedback) ​This review isn't mine, obvs, but if you can't wait for mine to come out this is a pretty thorough review to see first. The lifetime deal for BugSmash has sold out; not sure if it'll be back, but BugSmash does have a free plan!

That's all for this week!
See ya next time. 😁

Katelyn Web Designer & Educator ​Thrivin' on coffee, community, cursing & carefully laid plans!