Today I’m sharing one of the biggest investments I’ve made in my business to date: The Kinship by Jess and Charis at Web Designer Library. This membership is one part Showit Canvas Library, one part educational resource, and one part networking community. I’m going to wait to give you my final thoughts until the end of this post, but *spoiler alert* they’re all 100% positive!

I’ve been a member of the Web Designer Library since they first opened their doors in April of 2023. I had just been burned by a popular and pricey commercial use Showit canvas kit that I purchased from a well known designer. When I started using the canvases it was clear very little thought or effort had gone into creating them. They were poorly made and all had the same style. Not great for a designer who designs for a variety of different brands.

Somehow in my searching of the interwebs, I stumbled across the Kinship: a membership for Showit designers featuring commercial use canvases, full website templates, mockups and more. I was intrigued, but a little wary given my recent bad experience. However, I hopped on the waitlist just in case. As Jess and Charis slowly unveiled some of the resources that were going to be available in the membership, I became increasingly interested. I even put “WDL Launches” on my Google Calendar, because I knew I did not want to miss out when it opened.

Web Designer Library: What’s Inside?

I joined Web Designer Library expecting just a library of canvases and templates to speed up my design work and template creation, and wasn’t really expecting much more. Much to my delight, Jess and Charis have packed the membership with so many resources, education and goodies, it’s hard to even keep track of them all.

Here’s what’s included in Web Designer Library as of the writing of this post(they are adding new things constantly!) :

• 165+ Commercial Use Showit Canvas Kits, with 45 more dropping each quarter
• 8 Full Website Templates for Client Work (with more being added regularly)
• 7 Add-On Pages including a membership template, shop, sales page and more
• 140+ Lifestyle Mockups for showcasing client work (with more being added quarterly)
• The Client Toolkit ( Email Swipe Files, Clickup Dashboard, Proposal Template and Questionnaire Example)
• The Shop Toolkit (A Template Shop Guide, Template Shop Share Key, Clickup Workflow, and Font & Stock Photo Guides)
• Circle community with direct access to Jess and Charis for feedback, questions and support

Phew! That’s a lot. I’m going to break down each of these resources below, but if you’re like me your appetite is whetting just taking a look at that monster list.

The Shop Kit: Commercial Use Showit Canvases

If you’re like me and DREAM of opening a Showit template shop (shhhh….it’s coming soon!) but just don’t have the hours upon hours of time to dedicate to amidst client work and marketing, this is for you! And these canvases can be used on BOTH client projects and templates. I’ve used them on both my own website and client projects, and they cut my time in half, at least.

And let me just say, these are very high quality canvases. Jess and Charis are always coming up with new and innovative designs and layouts, that get my creativity juices flowing! Afraid your designs will look copied or canned? Don’t. I always find that the canvases just give me a jumping off place, and I love adding my own touch to them to make them totally unique. If you’ve designed in Showit you know that mobile can be the most time consuming to lay out. But each of these canvases is already laid out for desktop AND mobile, saving me tons of time. Check out a few of my favorite canvases below!

The Client Kit: Full Showit Website Templates for Client Work

They really outdid themselves on this one! The Kinship includes access to (at this time) 8 FULL website templates that can be used for client work! These templates are incredibly detailed, and laid out perfectly for photographers, service providers, coaches, podcasters….the list goes on! I’ve found them to make great base templates for website projects. Each one is very unique in style and function.

The add-on templates include a shop layout, sales page, podcast page, pricing page, opt-in, affiliate shop, and my personal favorite…a Showit membership dashboard, complete with instructions on how to set yo a membership with Showit and Memberspace. This are incredible tools for both your own website, and custom client projects! I’ve used these as both frameworks for my own website and to streamline my Website in a Week service!

The Mockups: Showcase your Work

I never expected that these mockups might be one of my FAVORITE resources inside the membership! Having professional, unique mockups that fit with your branding can really elevate your marketing, and give the perfect backdrop to showcasing your client work. I’ve used these to both share my portfolio, and as stock photos and product photos for my digital products. Literally every photo in the blog post is created from their mockups. The possibilities are endless here! Each collection dropped has a unique vibe and styling with different backdrops and props – you’re sure to find one that fit’s with your or your client’s brand!

Extra Resources: Template Shop Guide, Swipe Files and More

As if all I’ve mentioned wasn’t enough, Jess and Charis have given you a peek into their own client and template building process to help you streamline your business and reach your goals faster. The Template Shop Guide is essentially a full course on how to create AND market your templates from start to finish. You could pay $1,000+ for this course alone, but it’s included in the membership as an added bonus. I’ll be using it myself in each step of my template creation process to ensure I’ve crossed all my “T”s and dotted my “I”s.

In addition to the guide, Jess and Charis have compiled numerous other resources, including a Site in a Day Proposal template, Clickup Dashboard for Client work and template creation, email swipe files, curated font and stock photo collections and more! Trust me, you won’t need to buy a course on how to scale your client process or create and sell your templates in addition to this. You have everything you need right in the membership.

Bonus: An Incredible Community

Have you ever joined a course or membership where the founder never engaged or interacted with any posts, or the community was just kind of dead, and no one participated? Yeah, me too. That’s why I was honestly astounded by the virtual hospitality and care Jess and Charis show to each of their members. I can honestly say I’ve never felt so supported by any membership or online course. Jess and Charis roll out the red carpet for their members, are our biggest cheerleaders and fans, and provide an intimate and personalized level of support that is unmatched.

Need feedback on a template or client site? They’re there to give you a detailed Loom review. Frustrated or discouraged in your business? They’re there to give you encouragement. Have an exciting win to share? They’re the first to celebrate and give you high-fives. I truly did not expect this level of community and support inside Web Designer Library, and it’s been a wonderful safe place for me during a time of scaling that can feel intimidating and scary at times.

The Cost: Is It Worth It?

In case you hadn’t noticed, I am a HUGE fan of Web Designer Library. I have personally made back my investment MULTIPLE times over, and the amount of time I save makes the investment more than worth the cost. If you are doing custom work that takes weeks and weeks to complete, think of the hours you’ll save by having access to a library of high quality templates that’s constantly increasing so you’re continually inspired. And if you’re wanting to build templates, but the time commitments seem overwhelming, the canvas collections will easily save you dozens if not hundreds of hours creating layouts.

Grab Access to Web Designer Library and a Special Discount Code

Jess and Charis have graciously given my readers, $50 off their first payment with my affiliate code: WDL50. I’m so genuinely pumped for my fellow designers to experience all the incredible resources Web Designer Library has to offer! I’ll see you inside!

*This blog post may contain affiliate links. I never recommend anything I don’t personally love and use myself for my clients or in my own business!