Baywood Inn – a website realignment.

One of the purposes of the seven and eight blog is to display examples of my recent work and be able to give a little insight into the design process at the same time. So, I thought I’d share a little bit about the experience I gained designing a new website for the Baywood Inn, a bed and breakfast.


As I was about to start the project, a friend of mine sent me a link to an article about realignment. I thought it was a decent article, not earth shattering perhaps, but definitely decent. Anyway, I found it expressed a lot of things I’d been thinking about and some things that I hadn’t, in a way that made a lot of sense.

The main thing I took from the article was that a successful redesign isn’t really a redesign at all, but instead a realignment. What I took this to mean was that instead of trying to find ways to say something new, it’s more about finding ways of saying the same thing that are more appealing, clearer and fresher.


The term “redesign” implies that you’re done with the original and you want to scrap it (either from boredom or panic or some other primeval impulse), whereas the use of “realign” reveals that you’ve recognised there’s a constantly evolving market out there and that from time to time companies (and other organisations) need to adjust their position in order to maintain effective communication (and not get left behind).


Therefore, the main priority when realigning the Baywood Inn site was to make the existing information more accessible, concise and relevant whilst retaining a friendly style of presentation from the original.

Shape Shift Photoshoot

Recently my glamorous, talented wife had the opportunity to carry out a corporate quality photoshoot with the editorial director of John Paul Mitchell Systems. Sunnie Brook has been part of the Paul Mitchell family for 3 years and works, among other things, as a national educator. She is also one of the owners of a Paul Mitchell Focus Salon in San Luis Obispo, CA, called REVEAL salon. Of course I’m biased, but it has to be the best salon in the world... ok maybe not, but definitely in SLO County.

The photoshoot was her reward for the winning entry in an international contest; an original concept called “Shape Shift” which was inspired by modern architectural and interior design. She wanted to create highly structured styles that maintained a sense of playfulness and femininity.

When I found out I could go with her to Beverly Hills for the shoot, I decided to document the experience. So here it is...

new 7and8design website

Welcome to the newly enhanced seven and eight website!

This blog feature will be used to post examples of recent work and to keep any interested parties informed about the changes and growth that take place over the coming months and years here at seven and eight.

Thanks for stopping by and reading this... the first entry in the seven and eight blog.

Until the next installment.