The Launch of Svenska Studios new Website

Finally! The launch of the new website for Svenska Studios. Sometimes I wonder why everything in the digital age takes so much longer to produce. I think part of the reason rests with all the choices in software for web sites — I become paralyzed trying to decide the best way to do it as I sort through the options.

It all began with a lesson on Angry Birds at the Nordic Cool celebration at the Kennedy Center last year. I have been a Festival Volunteer for the Kennedy Center for many years, starting with the annual open house and moving into themed festivals throughout the year. Last year Nordic Cool captured my attention as it included Sweden, which is my heritage and the name of my company — Svenska, which is the Swedish name for the language of Sweden. So I began volunteering with the iPad games developed by individuals from Nordic Countries. Fortunately there were more experienced game volunteers and that is how I met Rauno Merisalu, who is from Estonia but most recently lived in Finland before coming to the United States. As we struck up a friendship over how to play Angry Birds, I learned that he developed web sites and we soon forged a working relationship to update my site.

Over the course of the past year, Rauno has been incredibly patient working with me to change how I present myself on line. I kept trying to fit into the more traditional types of sites that photographers have with pages on portraits, weddings, and landscapes. I realized that it just wasn’t working with what I currently do with photography and film. Working with Rauno, I finally developed a different approach – one that presents projects, not just categorized pictures. The projects are really stories and I enjoy telling stories through photography. In addition, there are pictures that I want to showcase and those will be presented on the website as picture of the week. The blog site will announce when there is a new picture of the week on the site and also link to the television show “Picture This” where readers will be able to learn about photography and see video demonstrations in short segments.

As I move in this new direction, I have to thank Rauno who nudged me at all the right times, gave thoughtful feedback, and worked quickly to turn around my content whenever I finally produced it. As we worked, I gained great admiration for Rauno and his skills. I love the work on his site and I am proud to think that my site might make the cut to be showcased at: http://raunomerisalu.com.

While I have recommended Rauno to everyone seeking a web designer here in DC, the opportunity to work directly with him is coming to a close as he preps for a cross-country trip in the USA before returning to Finland in the late Spring. I shall miss working with him but he is off to pursue a master’s degree in either Finland or Sweden. The next time I have to update, I think I will be making a trip to Scandinavia. In the meantime, enjoy the new site and let us know what you think!

Thanks for taking a look.