Just upgraded the website from Squarespace 5 to Squarespace 7. Did it for two reasons: because Google is deprecating the search results for websites that aren't mobile-optimized (e.g. respnsive design) and because, hey, it looks so much better.

The main challenge was to go back and find image files that were large enough (say, 2000 to 3000 px in width as opposed to the 850 px width of my most of the image files I had kept on my computer) to fill the full bleed image format of the SS7 template I chose, but here, another remarkable piece of software proved invaluable. I don't recall the exact name now, but for you eager beavers interested in googling it, look up "chrome extension organizes your gmail attachments" or tap on this link here. That's right, once you add this extension (or lab feature) to your gmal settings, this amazing code runs quietly in the background to pull a copy of every image you have either sent or received in gmail, going back to the beginning of your gmail life. What's more, it automatically collects these images in a folder you can later find in the left column of your (Mac) finder window (see image below). Its kind of a miracle. As I began looking for larger image files, I discovered over 3,000 images in this folder, none of which I had ever lifted a finger to place there myself.

Anyway, hope you like the new website, and if you'd like to learn more or stay in touch, please follow me on Instagram and Facebook. I love your support and interest in the site.

(Author James Akers is a registered architect and architectural illustrator with over 25 years experience. His YouTube Procreate tutorial channel has thousands of subscribers (please join us!), and he provides both in-house and studio-based sketching and rendering—what one might call "design stenography" services—to many of NYC's and Boston’s leading architects.)