About
Originally launched as a music marketing blog in 2016, “Designing the Row” was a nod to Nashville’s Music Row and the behind-the-scenes work shaping musicians’ careers online. A decade and hundreds of website clients later, Designing the Row is now an internationally trusted Squarespace design agency and educational platform across many industries.
Designing the Row® founder, Katherine Forbes, began her professional career in artist management. Through that experience she quickly found herself acting as website designer, social media manager, email marketer, and paid ads manager. This gave her a direct behind the scenes look at what was actually happening online through the analytics of marketing efforts for artists and albums that would go on to win GRAMMYs.
Designing the Row began as a blog that explored topics like YouTube strategy for musicians, social media posting frameworks, and email list growth. And before Designing the Row was even a full-time business, Katherine released a workbook, Market Your Music Online, compiling the systems, checklists, and lessons she’d developed to literally learn, organize, and do her job efficiently.
By 2017, one insight had become impossible to ignore: at the center of every successful digital strategy was the website.
Social media could drive awareness. Email lists could nurture relationships. But if a website wasn’t designed to guide visitors clearly, none of those efforts could fully do their job. Traffic without direction led nowhere.
That’s why when Designing the Row was officially elevated from blog to business, Katherine took the direction of offering Squarespace web design services. It was built on a simple belief: your website is your home base online. It’s where trust is established, clarity is created, and real business happens.
Since then, Designing the Row has designed and launched over 300 custom Squarespace websites. And while the agency began by serving musicians and artists, it has naturally expanded to work with clients across industries including law firms, authors, speakers, interior designers, entrepreneurs, live events, and service-based businesses.
Designing the Row is known and sought out for its clean, simple design style that prioritizes usability and messaging over trends. Beyond design, education remains a core value of Designing the Row as well. Founder Katherine Forbes is a ‘Squarespace Expert’ and ‘Squarespace Authorized Trainer,’ and her educational reach extends through a Squarespace-focused YouTube channel with thousands of subscribers. She believes your website should be an asset that grows alongside your brand and business, and her goal is to empower clients with clarity, confidence, and ownership to make that a reality.
What to expect when you work with Designing the Row
Custom Design
Every site is built from the ground up. No templates, ever.
Client Ownership
You fully own your website, content, and domain.
Transparency
No unnecessary retainers or hidden fees.
Education
We provide resources and guidance so you can manage your site long-term.
Meet the Founder, Katherine Forbes
Katherine moved to Nashville the day after graduating college with dual degrees in Music Technology and Piano Performance. With no smartphone, no apartment, and no job lined up, she arrived in Music City on instinct. Within weeks, she landed an unpaid internship in artist management.
It was during those early years in the music industry that Katherine began identifying a recurring problem: artists and creative businesses were investing time and energy into social media and promotion, but their websites weren’t built to support those efforts. That insight ultimately led to the launch of Designing the Row®, which officially began offering website design services in 2017.
Alongside her work at Designing the Row, Katherine’s expertise has been recognized across industries. Her work has been featured on Forbes.com, and she’s been invited to speak on panels for Yelp and the Music Business Association, teach workshops for Greater Nashville Realtors, and host educational events for organizations across the music, business, and creative spaces.
She currently serves as an adjunct professor at East Tennessee State University, teaching college-level curriculum she created herself, sits on the advisory board for Virginia Tech School of Performing Arts, and continues to expand her work through keynote speaking, blending storytelling with live piano performance and original compositions.