I’ve been thinking a lot about my new website. Because 2012 will go down in Butland history as The Year Of Financial Nightmares (Various), I don’t have much of a budget for it. A year ago, I probably would have allocated some money, found someone I trust, told them what I wanted, and got something really nice. This year, that isn’t an option. So I’ve been trying to figure it out for myself.

And although there will, no doubt, be crying and stomping when I get to doing the technical bits that I don’t entirely understand, some really good things have come out of this almost-budget-free endeavour. The main one being that I have given a great deal more thought to what I want than I would have done if I’d briefed a designer.

I’ve spent a long time thinking about what’s unique about me: about how I portray myself: about how to do something that’s more Stephanie than Bah! that I will be comfortable with during this next transitional period in my career. I couldn’t really find The Definitive Thing until I woke up in the middle of the night, thought ‘handwriting!’ and promptly went back to sleep.

In the morning I had a little Google and discovered that you can – for a very modest sum – get your handwriting converted into a font. Which is weirdly brilliant in itself -

but the designer, the lovely Darcy, also agreed to convert my signature.

(Note to my criminal fans: this is the way I sign books, but not legal documents, bank forms, etc, so don’t even think about it.)

Which seems like the most ‘me’ thing I can do, and I’m very pleased with it. And it just goes to show that sometimes something that looks like a problem (not a lot of money) can help you to find a better way.

I’m also pleased – if by ‘pleased’ we all understand that I mean ‘overcome, overexcited and thrilled’ – with the image that’s coming to go with it, but that’s another story. (No prizes for guessing what the image is going to be. But do have a go anyway.)

If you want your own font, talk to Darcy. She’s lovely, and helpful, and super clever.