Round four
Pick a mood.
The site's bones are set. This round is about its personality: the same pages in three different moods. Compare them below, then tell me which feels most like Fine Print Market, or which pieces of each you'd keep. Working through it with an AI assistant? Copy this plan for it at the bottom.
Three moods, one site.
Only the fonts, patterns, frames, labels and a few colors change; every page stays the same. Scroll inside each preview, open one full size, or switch moods on any page with the Mood control in the corner (or press 1, 2, 3).
Compare
The moods at a glance
| Market | Parisian | Riviera | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel | Collected and playful, a market stall | Refined and classical, a French papeterie | Bright and graphic, a seaside cabana |
| Type | Soft serif, loose script, typewriter labels | High-contrast serif, formal script, spaced capitals | Soft retro serif, bold script, clean sans labels |
| Pattern | Gingham, ticking, stripes, dots | Toile de Jouy, fine pinstripes | Wide cabana stripes |
| Trim | Washi tape, stamps, sparkles, sprigs | Gold hairlines, gilt photo corners, an engraved portrait frame, gold stars only | A big butter awning, pill-shaped labels, striped door frames, no sparkles |
| Color lean | The full palette | Denim, gold and burgundy on linen | Butter and denim |
Start with the homepage and About, where the differences are biggest, and look on your phone too. A mix is fine: name a base and what to borrow, like "Parisian, with Market's stamps."
What's new in Draft 4
- Three moods. The same pages dressed three ways, so you can compare instead of imagine.
- Hand-painted illustrations. The drawn placeholders are gone. In their place: postage stamps, a wax seal, ribbons and bows, botanical sprigs, printer's ornaments, a toile pattern, studio tools on the Custom Work mat, four little vignettes on About, and a real paper texture under everything.
- Refined pieces for Parisian. An engraved frame around the About portrait, and gilt photo corners in place of tape.
- Small moments of motion. The postmark stamps down, the airmail sticker slaps on, the banners sway, and a wax seal presses when a request is sent. It all stays still for anyone who turns motion off on their device.
- Instagram is linked in every footer.
Nothing moved: every section you liked is where it was.
Who decides what
Yours
Taste and words
- Which mood, and what feels right or off
- Prices, product names and the About story
- Photos, scans and your lettering
- The final yes before anything goes live
Mine
The build
- Page structure and how things work
- Platform, checkout, downloads, hosting, the domain
- Making request forms land in your inbox
- Fixes and polish between rounds: I go ahead and show you
TogetherAnything that changes the scope, like a new page or selling paper goods online. When there are two good options, I build both and you pick.
What's settled
These are decided. Reopening one costs a round, so leave them be unless something is truly wrong.
- The pages and their order. Home, Paper Goods, Custom Work, Digital Goods, the product page, About and the request form. No new sections, no cuts.
- The north star: collected, not decorated. Restrained, a little expensive, with small surprises.
- The build is on me. Instant downloads through Payhip, request-based paper goods, and a front end that feels editorial, not like a template. You'll see everything before it goes live.
- Fonts stay stand-ins. Market stands in for the fonts in your brief; Parisian and Riviera show other type flavors. Judge the feel, not the exact letters. Real licensed fonts go in before launch.
- Only decoration gets illustrated. Stamps, seals, ribbons, sprigs, frames. Anything you sell, your lettering and the logo come from real photos, scans and your own hand, never AI.
- All paper goods are by request at launch. Banners show starting prices and examples; envelopes, place cards, signs and unusual projects are quoted.
- Request forms stay short and friendly. Exact fields get settled once your samples exist.
- Physical goods ship. The shipping policy comes before launch.
- Your Etsy digital products move over as one collection, no subcategories.
- Your Custom Work copy is in, word for word.
- Photography is a mix: clean product shots and in-context images, never a wall of cutouts.
- About leads with "Why Fine Print?" and the copy follows the layout.
Pages to look at
Click through in any order. On each page, tap Show notes in the corner to see what it's doing and why. Each card has the one thing I most want your eye on.
Homepage · start here
The Little World
Where the moods differ most: the collage, the two doors, the little-things band. The stamps, sticker and postmark move a little as you arrive.
Look forWhich mood feels most like Fine Print Market here, and what feels like too much?
Paper Goods
Made by hand.
Banners + signs, envelopes and place cards, each a small room with a product shot, a context shot and a request button.
Look forIs the starting-price list the right amount of pricing?
Request form
Tell me about it.
One fill-in-the-blanks letter for everything made to order. The sentence changes to match what they're asking for.
Look forToo few questions, or too many?
Custom Work
Let's make it.
Opens on the cutting mat, then a pinboard of process shots and how a custom project works.
Look forDoes it feel like walking into the studio?
Digital Goods
Instantly yours.
One collection with cards of different sizes, like a drawer of specimens. Sample products until your Etsy listings move over.
Look forIs it still easy to shop?
Product page
The Little List
Every field from your brief: previews, price, the instant-download badge, what you get, and printing info.
Look forAnything a customer would still wonder before buying?
About
Why fine print?
The headline's footnote is the answer. Painted vignettes, a wax seal by the signature, and a portrait frame that changes with each mood. Draft copy from your brief.
Look forIs the draft copy close to your voice?
What I need from you
This is the whole list, in order. Start at the top.
Now, so I can keep building
6 things- Pick a moodMarket, Parisian or Riviera, or a base plus what to borrow. This one choice steers everything else: every art pass after it gets built once instead of three times.
- Two quick confirmationsThe footnote: there are two on the homepage, "* A little extra, in the best way." under the headline, and "† Especially the details nobody technically needs…" further down. Cut which one, or both? The awning: "too cute" is noted, and after you pick a mood it becomes a printed paper band. Say so if you meant something else.
- Your reactions to these pagesKeep, change, cut: a few words each (see "How to give feedback" below).
- Your Etsy digital listingsThe shop link is enough. I'll pull names, prices and descriptions from there.
- Banner starting pricesTwo or three sizes with a "starting at" price, plus a photo or two of banners you've already made.
- Where requests should goThe email address you want requests to land in.
As you make samples
2 things- Photos from the shot listBelow. Phone photos are fine for now; they just need to show the idea.
- About notesBullet points are plenty: how it started, what you love making, why people can trust you. I'll shape them.
Before launch, not yet
Later- Shipping policy and ratesFor paper goods.
- Final request-form questionsOnce samples are set, we trim or add.
- FontsFinal picks and web licenses.
- Terms for digital filesFor example, personal use only.
How to give feedback
For each page, three short lists. Tell me what feels off, not how to fix it; solving it is my job. "This feels busy" helps more than "make it blue," because it leaves room for the right fix. Bigger ideas go on a "later" list so we keep moving.
Keep · for examplelove the letter form
Change · for examplethe doors feel crowded on my phone
Cut · for examplethe airmail edge at the top
One round, one message: collect your notes, then send them together, page by page. Anything you don't mention, I'll read as a keep.
Mood: Parisian (borrow: Market's stamps) Home Keep: … Change: … (what feels off) Cut: … About Keep: … Change: … Cut: … Answers: footnote … / awning … / Etsy link … / banner prices … / request email …
After you pick
Once there's a mood, each page gets one signature moment in it. These are mine to build and yours to react to. If one already sounds wrong, say so now and it's an easy swap.
- HomeA printed paper band wrapped across the page replaces the awning. More loose pieces in the hero collage once your scans arrive.
- Paper GoodsPieces grouped into little sets by occasion: the party table, the welcome sign, the wedding suite.
- Custom WorkA busier studio table with real process shots, swatches and pinned sketches.
- Digital GoodsA catalog-style spread, like a page from a printed look book.
- Product pageDetails and pricing laid out like a packing slip.
- AboutA flat lay of your tools and a handwritten note from you.
Art direction rules
These keep every addition consistent, whoever makes it.
- Collected, not decorated. Every ornament should look like something tucked in a drawer or pinned to a studio wall, never filler.
- One signature moment per page. Everything else stays quiet, with plenty of bare paper showing.
- The illustration style matches the original stamp sheet: gouache and fine ink, classical French papeterie, refined first with a hint of whimsy. Nothing cute, cartoony or crafty, and no words inside images; real text is set on the site.
- Never generated: anything you sell, your lettering, or the logo.
- Photos: soft window light, straight overhead or at a slight angle, on plain paper or linen. Scans of your pieces become the homepage collage.
- Paper
#F3EFE7 - Ink
#30302D - Dusty blue
#A9B9C4 - Sage
#9BA58A - Dusty rose
#D7A7A4 - Butter
#E6CF83 - Lavender
#B7AEC3 - Burgundy
#783F47 - Denim
#3F4C5C - Marigold
#C69A54
Need a new illustrated piece? I have the prompt pack and the style reference, so new pieces go through me and match the set.
Shot list
Every photo slot on the pages says what goes there. Here they all are in one place, for your sample library.
Homepage collage
- Scan / cutoutOne each, flat and straight-on: a banner, an addressed envelope, a place card, a printed digital piece, and a few stamps or labels.
Paper Goods
- ProductA banner laid flat on a plain background.
- ContextA banner hung over a dessert table or doorway at a real party.
- ProductTwo or three addressed envelopes, fanned.
- ContextA stack of envelopes on a table with stamps and a pen, from above.
- ProductTwo or three place cards, straight-on.
- ContextA place card on a set table: napkin, glass, candlelight.
Custom Work
- Behind the scenesPencil sketches spread on the worktable.
- DetailPaint swatches and a brush, close up.
- In progressMeasuring a banner, hands in frame.
- Flat layPaper scraps, pens, and a half-lettered piece.
- FinishedA one-off piece where it lives: on a door, a wall, a table.
Digital Goods
- ProductA clean preview of each file. Your Etsy images are fine to start.
- ContextTwo or three printed and in use, like a list on a clipboard or thank-you cards on a desk.
About
- PortraitAt the worktable, hands in frame, natural light. Doesn't have to be posed.
From your briefWindow light, no flash, warm cream surfaces, and one product with a few supporting details. Older photos can be cropped and reused.
What happens next
- I dress every page in your moodWith one signature moment each, plus your keep / change / cut notes.
- I build the shop behind the scenesCheckout, instant downloads, and request forms that land in your inbox.
- Your Etsy products move overAs one collection.
- Photos go in as they comeThe drawn stand-ins get replaced one by one.
- Launch checklistShipping, fonts, final copy, a test purchase and a test request.
- Open the doorsThen the "refine later" list from your brief.
For your AI assistant
If you're thinking this through with an AI assistant, give it the whole plan so it knows what's decided and what's open. The button copies this page as plain text with a short brief on top. Paste it at the start of the chat.
You're helping me review the website for my stationery business, The Fine Print Market. Cody is building it with Claude; I decide taste, words and photos. Below is our plan. Treat everything under "What's settled" as decided: don't suggest new pages, new platforms or a redesign. Walk me through "What I need from you" in order, one at a time, starting with picking a mood. Help me turn my reactions into keep / change / cut notes that say what feels off, not how to fix it. If I start drifting toward a bigger change, flag it as something to raise with Cody.
Pick a mood first, then the rest of the "Now" list. That's all for this round.
— Cody Start with the homepage