What They Needed

It was crystal clear that Patrick needed a website that could serve several purposes.

• Promote his business to new clients
• Automate the process of scheduling appointments

We sat down together and put together a cost-effective solution for him.

The Solution

To make the project as cost-effective as possible, we built the foundation of Patrick’s website with WordPress. Once the foundation was in place, we customized everything to give him the look he wanted. The big advantage of using WordPress is that it gives him a standardized content management system and a very solid foundation basically for free.

The website included:

• A media-rich design that both sets the mood for a relaxing massage and doubles as an effective promotional tool for his business
• A customized and automated system for his clients to schedule appointments online
• A database so all client and appointment data is stored in a single, centralized location
• The option to easily add a blog in the future

The End Result

Within 6 months of the launch of the website, Real Muscular Therapy’s business had grown so fast that they could afford to move into a rented studio/office space adjacent to their local gym. As of Fall, 2019, their business is still doing very well.

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As part of the complete rebranding of Matt Gove Photo in early 2021, we designed a new logo for the site. We wanted a logo that would align with our new mission and goals. The new logo needed to fulfill four requirements.

1. Show our passion and commitment to responsible travel, being a global citizen, and expanding our horizons.
2. Display our love for travel, nature, and the outdoors
3. Showcase our personality and be uniquely Matt Gove Photo
4. Reflect our professional, high quality, and even fine art photography and video

Rooted in Photography. Glowing in Responsibility.

To make the new logo uniquely Matt Gove Photo, the design is based off of one of our photos. Indeed, the lighthouse you see in the design is actually the Yaquina Head Lighthouse in Newport, Oregon. Despite having grown up in New England, where there are lighthouses around every corner, I chose the Pacific Northwest for its rugged, natural beauty. There are no shortages of outdoor activities and opportunities to get out in nature.

While Matt Gove Photo has always used an earthy and natural color scheme, you probably recall that it has been very different in the past. From 2011 to early 2021, Matt Gove Photo used a terra cotta red and earthy grey color scheme. I chose that color after moving to Oklahoma in 2011 to symbolize the state’s famous red clay. After settling in Arizona, that same color scheme symbolized Sedona’s world-famous red rock country.

A Fresh Color Scheme

However, once we began transitioning into our next chapter, it became clear that we needed a rebrand in order to make that next step in both the Matt Gove Photo journey and our career. So we dumped the outdated color scheme and rebranded to a green color scheme.

If you’re not familiar with color theory or the psychology of color, green symbolizes the environment, nature, and being eco-friendly. Being eco-friendly ties directly in with our mission of responsible travel, being a global citizen, and building inclusive communities around the world. Finally, we updated our font to give it the extra auro of quality and professionalism.

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From Hobbyist to Semi-Pro to Professional

After launching the Matt Gove Photo site, I quickly made the transition from hobbyist to semi-pro photographer. At the time, I was working hard to establish my professional career in data science and GIS. I dreamt of becoming a professional photographer for years. But it seemed like I always lacked either the time or the money to make that next step. So the photography remained a side income for much of the 2010’s.

That all changed when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020. Because I’m a travel photographer, one of my greatest passions was all of a sudden taken away from me when the world locked down. And with it went one of my only creative outlets.

Unfortunately, I needed to be creative to help balance out the technical grind of GIS and data science. So after 12-plus years, I finally took that next step and went fully professional with my photography. And I didn’t stop there. I used the downtime during the lockdown to learn video storytelling. And it really has propelled me to that next level.

The Matt Gove Photo Site Today

Between November, 2019 and April, 2021, the Matt Gove Photo site was completely redesigned and rebranded. The redesign focused on aligning the look and feel of the website with our mission and values, as well as emphasizing the visual media on the site. The purpose of the rebrand was to establish myself on that next level as a professional photographer.

The design of the Matt Gove Photo website has elicited the most ooh’s and aah’s from visitors, and is something I take immense pride in. However, most people don’t realize that I also coded the entire website from scratch. Once again, you need both the creative and technical skills to reach its maximum potential. I can’t wait to see what the future holds for it.

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