e: lauren-at-goodspark.com   p: (312) 469-0494
deliciously inspired web design from chicago

Specializing in small scale e-commerce, manageable CMS solutions, and clean-lined sites, goodspark* can offer you a competitive quote that works with your timeline and budget constraints. We're here to help you out with all facets of your online presence.

» Get started on your project today, request a free quote.

Recent Client Work

Lily Red Studio

Wordpress powered content management system with slider galleries, multiple custom page templates and layouts.

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Revel Global Events

Wordpress powered content management system with multiple custom page templates and layouts.

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Goldfish Marketing

Wordpress powered content management system with multiple custom page templates and layouts.

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Line of Advance

Wordpress powered content management system with publication ordering, Stripe payment integration, user roles, and a custom blog.

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Anne Book

Wordpress business site with custom gallery layout.

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US of Awesome

E-commerce site installation with a custom Wordpress theme to match, donation selection at checkout, and social integration.

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Snarky Sleeves

E-commerce site installation with full administration tool for content management, along with a matching Wordpress blog.

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Agnes & Hoss

Wordpress powered content management system with a customized, full page gallery and blog archive functionality.

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Snow & Graham

E-commerce site installation with full administration tool for content management, along with a matching Wordpress blog.

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S&G Wholesale

Login protected e-commerce site installation with full administration tool for content management, along with a matching Wordpress blog.

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Sarah Drake Design

E-commerce site installation with full administration tool for content management, along with a matching Wordpress blog.

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Mata Traders

E-commerce site installation with full administration tool for content management and seperate retail and wholesale customer pricing and display.

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Jami Darwin

Gallery and thumbnail archive portfolio with a matching Wordpress blog.

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Jennaea Gearhart

Simple and minimal online portfolio with a custom portfolio gallery.

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Sarah McGuire

E-commerce site installation with full administration tool for content management, loupe zoom feature, and store listing.

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Shop Mayu

E-commerce site installation with full administration tool for content management, along with a matching Wordpress blog.

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Bistro Campagne

Wordpress powered content management system with Facebook connection and menu uploader.

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La Familia Green

E-commerce site installation with full administration tool for content management and store listing.

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Kit This

Wordpress powered content management system with a customized skin and gallery styles.

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Bake Chicago

Custom content management system with bakery menu administration and custom gallery.

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Goodspark is proud to have worked with

Noteworthy Notes Sway Jewelry Copper Crown Events Beauty & Brawn Gallery Evil Kitty Hello Kristen Lemon Yellow Bakery A Swan Event Sweetchic Events Makenna Yeargain Cool Cribs Lifestyles Chick Lingo Colette Ltd. Let Them Eat Chocolate Malia Designs Mint Handbags

The Goodspark Process

Step 1

1. Talk it out

We'll get together – either by email, phone, ichat, or in person – and discuss the direction you would like to take with your site. What is your overall business goal? Who is the site geared towards? How should the site make you feel? A lot of these questions are on the request a quote so feel free to pop over there and check 'em out.

Step 2

2. Mock it up

Once the contract and deposit have been submitted, the predesign phase begins. Based on your feedback, goodspark* will provide you with 2 different design concepts. These can then be altered as you see fit, and 3 rounds of revisions are included in the contract price. Building only starts once you have given final design approval.

Step 3

3. Test it out

After a design has been approved, a single-page working template will be built for proofing online. This will then be optimized for modern standards, and will be tested in a variety of platforms and browsers. You will have final say in the review of this page, and nothing will be built until you give the go-ahead to start the full build.

Step 4

4. Going live!

The finished site is usually ready to roll within 1 - 4 weeks after final design approval, depending on complexity and scope. We recommend that you launch early in the week to allow for plenty of time to ensure things are moving smoothly. If applicable, we will also provide you with a manual on how to manage and update your site.


Client Testimonials

"We are a start up business and have a million things going on at once. Working with Lauren on the website was easy and uncomplicated. We had our website set up very quickly and we LOVED the results. We get compliments on it almost on a daily basis. I wish everything could be that easy."

Jennifer Kane, Baked


"We're new to on-line marketing and selling, meaning what we don't know could fit inside a 40' semi. Lauren took our graphics, an outline of the products we want to sell, and implemented our first shopping cart ahead of schedule and on-budget. When we encountered those inevitable 'how do you do this?' questions after the site was up, she was readily available to provide the answers we needed. I can't recommend Lauren and goodspark* highly enough."

Jay Voss, Let Them Each Chocolate


"Lauren did such a wonderful job in turning my vision into reality. This was no small feat as I had hired a couple web & graphic designers prior to her who simply could not translate my ideas into reality. With Lauren, it was a collaborative breeze. A true joy. At no point during the process did I get frustrated at all. We worked as a team tweaking and enhancing ideas thrown out and created beautiful, eye-catching work. She is a true professional and gifted artist. I highly recommend her!"

Pamela Wall, Cool Cribs Lifestyles


"Lauren at goodspark* has a keen eye for design, listens to your business objectives and implements them in to a user-friendly, innovative, stylish website. She turns things around on a dime and offers great suggestions...Oh, and did I mention she is a joy to work with...she's the best!"

Colette Gleeson, Colette Ltd.


"I was fortunate enough to find Lauren at goodspark* from a friend who had also utilized her services. After having a bad experience with my first website, Lauren was a dream to work with! I bounced my ideas off of her and she translated them beautifully. I appreciated her patience throughout the process and thank her for the perfect end result!"

Valerie Cleland, Aubergine Catering

"Lauren's design was spot on. She was on-time, on-budget and gave us a web-site design that sparkled!  We love it."

Stacey Tomisser, Chick Lingo


"Working with Lauren and goodspark* was a fantastic experience. Not only did she understand what my needs were from the beginning; the execution, professionalism and speed of delivery was also on target. I am so pleased with the results and would highly recommend her to anyone. My web site turned out better than even what I expected – I could not be more ecstatic."

Adam Gould, Chicago Cupcakes


"Lauren was a pleasure to work with! With a keen sense of style and a great eye, she can definitely create a "look" that will satisfy your individual needs. Once Lauren begins a project, she will not finish until everyone is satisfied. She designed me a great website in little time, with little guidance  and it has received great feedback. You really can't go wrong with Lauren! I consider myself lucky to have found her - a hidden treasure among web-designers."  

Kate Robertson, Mayu


"goodspark* created two very distinct and highly functional websites for my freelance businesses. Lauren is great – I simply tell her what I want and she does it quickly and efficiently. With her intuitive design, it's very easy to update the sites myself. I get tons of compliments and would definitely recommend her creative services to anyone!"

Jill Morowitz


"I'm a repeat customer because Lauren has a knack for quickly putting together exactly the design I need with no hassle at all. The final product always looks great and works like a charm."

Michael Morowitz, Eat Chicago


"Lauren has the design sense and work ethic that make her our favorite designer. We love her aesthetic, we love her snappy turnaround times, and we love that she understands what our own clients want better than we do. Whenever Inner Drive needs good looking design quickly, our first call is to Lauren."

David Braverman, Inner Drive Technology


Making things that make you look good.

Likes

brownies, pies, sundaes, any combination of the words "brownie", "sundae", or "pie", otters, artichokes, carnivorous plants, avocados, green, san pellegrino aranciata, vintage sewing patterns, sparklers, fuzzy socks, the smell of tuberose, and superlatives.

Dislikes

cucumbers.

goodspark* is the design studio and consulting presence of Lauren Johnson. Lauren is the Coordinator of the Interaction Design Bachelor of Arts program and the User Experience and Web Development minors in the Interactive Arts and Media (IAM) Department at Columbia College Chicago, and has been a faculty member in this program since 2006. She received her Masters in Education, Learning Design and Leadership, New Learning, from the University of Illinois, where she studied knowledge acquisition and educational theory through the lens of usability and technology. She teaches interface design, interaction theory, user experience and usability, and collaborative development.

She has previously worked as an intern at Jellyvision - award winning developers of the most excellent trivia game ever "You Don't Know Jack" - and as a lead interactive designer at a boutique advertising studio.

Lauren has been a freelance designer since 2005, and loves working with both small and large clients. She is rabid about the customer experience and usability. She believes firmly in creating designs that are not only aesthetically pleasing, but are also polite and have good manners.

If you happen to find her away from her computer, she is likely in the middle of sewing something adorable or using power tools in her 100+ year old farmhouse in Oak Park, thrift shopping for vintage children's books on vinyl, or buried in a fort of pillows with her kids.


Say Hi

e: lauren -at- goodspark.com
p: 312.659.8576
f: 925.522.5147


Request a Workshop

Find out more or schedule a workshop

email me or give a call at 312.659.8576.

Want to turn your UX Team of One into a UX Team of Everyone?

I'm excited to offer workshops based upon my UX Camp talk "Fostering Empathy in Collaborative Development."

This one day event can be tailored to the specific needs of your group or company, and introduces activities to align all of the people within your organization around a shared vision of who your customer is and what they want and need. Effective team communication methodologies will also be introduced, which will aid in more results-oriented collaborative development.

A preview of the topics covered is available on SlideShare.

Speaking Opportunities

I am happy to review and submit panels to events focused on interaction design, usability and UX, design process, collaboration, and authentic curriculum. Please email me your call for proposals.

Slide decks from previous presentations are available on SlideShare

"The Benefits of Iterative Failure"

Presented at IXDA 17 Education Summit and UX Camp 2017

"Fostering Empathy in Collaborative Development"

Presented at UX Camp 2016 and U of I WebCon 2017

"Rapid Paper Prototyping"

Presented at Sketch Camp 2013. Published in .NET Magazine, March 2014.