Rescuing a Template Gone Wrong & Bringing it Back to Life
Working with Jessica Woods was one of those projects that reminded me why I love what I do. She came in saying she was a “giant red flag”—because her previous design team had heavily messed up her website template. When she told me, I asked to see what they’d done. And yes, it was quite the disaster.
Let me be clear: when you buy a website template and hire someone to customize it, the goal is to enhance—not override. A template is your foundation. It’s not a free pass to strip out everything that made it beautiful in the first place.
But Jessica is kind, brave, and ready to move forward. She reached out after seeing my work on Anywhere Everywhere Travel, and trusted me to rescue her site and restore its integrity. Working with her and bringing this project to life was a joy.
Respecting the Template’s Essence
When redesigning her site, my goal was to honor the original template’s structure, flow, and feel—while aligning it with Jessica’s brand, story, and photography. Here’s how we approached it:
- Maintain core structure and UX of the template, so it remains familiar and functional
- Customize colors, typography, and accents to reflect her personal style
- Use her strong imagery to carry the site; she already had beautiful photos
- Polish sections and add minor tweaks, not wholesale rewrites, so the template still feels intentional, not broken
The point was to give her the look she dreamed of—without losing what made the template shine.
Travel + Template + Trust
One of the parts I loved most about this project: I got to combine two loves of mine—travel and template customization. Also, Jessica’s willingness to trust me after a negative experience meant the world.
Because she reached out to me knowing I had worked with travel clients, it was comfortable territory. We leaned into her imagery, made sure the site felt full of life, movement, and personality.
It’s not just a clean, customized site. It reflects who Jessica is, what she does, and where she wants to go.
A Reminder for Anyone Using Templates
Templates are powerful tools—if treated with care. They aren’t placeholders for sloppy design. They deserve respect, consistency, and restraint.
You can customize beautifully. You can make it yours. But always maintain the balance between template structure and personal brand.
Jessica’s site is proof that a rescued template can become a showpiece.
Thinking About Fixing What’s Broken?
If you’ve got a site that’s underperforming, feels off, or is just plain messy—especially after someone else’s “customization”—you don’t need to start from scratch. Sometimes the answer is rescue, repair, and refinement.
Let’s talk about restoring your site with intention, clarity, and creative care.
