Hidden Gems: Meet Diana Hobstetter of Seven Blocks Design

Today we’d like to introduce you to Diana Hobstetter.

Hi Diana, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I had been a visual artist and in the mid-1990s there was a program sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts for artists and art organizations to learn web design for their portfolio or organization. I found that I liked it and started doing web design professionally after that. I started using Netscape Navigator, then moved on to Macromedia Dreamweaver, then WordPress, then added Squarespace and Shopify. Sometimes I was the designer, sometimes design and build, sometimes I had a team of at-large specialists. On the straight design side, I have used Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, and sometimes I’ll use some other tools like Canva when they offer faster solutions for something. Along the way, I’ve also done branding, promotional material, and book layouts.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Web development and design programs have changed dramatically during the last 30 years. Luckily, I am an adaptable person who likes to learn new things. However, there have been times when I’ve had breaks in working, like when I stayed at home with my daughter for a few years and when there was a family health crisis where my focus was on caregiving. Returning to work sometimes meant things had changed in the field and I had to figure out what I needed to learn, what I had to offer, and what my focus would be.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I work primarily with small to mid-size businesses and creatives. I work in partnership with clients to understand their goals and find appropriate solutions.

For web design, I work with WordPress, Shopify, and Squarespace, and show clients site development along the way so it is a collaborative endeavor. I work with both tech-savvy and tech-phobic clients and discuss the project in a way people can understand. If clients want to be able to update content themselves, I provide training. Some projects are done and over quickly, but I also have a number of clients that I’ve worked with for years, whether that is designing different promo materials, adding products or new sections to their site, or even redesigning their site as technology changes.

I want my clients to succeed and want to support them in their marketing—helping other people is what I get the greatest satisfaction from. Of course, I like when my designs looks good, and I’m particularly proud of websites with complex needs, such as for the e-commerce sites for SantaMonicaPlastics.com and StrandReleasing.com.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was a dreamy, internal-focused child who was always drawing. After my third grade teacher caught me drawing her portrait in class and contacted my mother to encourage her to get me into art classes, I took extra-curricular art classes all throughout school. I also liked copying calligraphy from books and I cherished a set of ink pens that had been my great-grandfather’s. I still love the personality of lettering in typography.

When I went to college, I thought I should major in something more practical than art, but ended up majoring in art after all. In my twenties, I worked in arts admin in London and lived in an artistic boat community outside of Paris.

In the early 2000s, after my daughter was born, I switched my creative focus from painting to music. I picked up the accordion, wrote music, and started performing as “Mrs. Hobbs”. I started in coffee shops—at first too shy to even look at the audience—and then went on to form duo bands and be in a few other bands, performing in clubs and at festivals, as well as being in the Accordion Babes Album & Pinup Calendar.

I love having experienced different cultures and having different interests. I even appreciate the challenging times that have taught me lessons. I think all my experiences contribute to my ability to see different perspectives and think outside the box in both life and work.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sevenblocksdesign.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sevenblocksdesign/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SevenBlocksDesign
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dianahobstetter/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/seven-blocks-design-santa-monica