Our New Site

We started the project about 6 months ago, but as we always need to put client’s work first our project kept taking a bit of a back-seat. Nevertheless, we ploughed on when we could and managed to get the site up and running 2 weeks ago.

Of course, we didn’t go ‘half-in’ on this design, we wanted something that would be very different to the other design company websites (which often feel very similar) and we think we’ve achieved that. But, with that desire to be a little different came a number of challenges.

Video
Having video as the main element on the home page means carefully designing and compressing it to run on both desktop systems and mobile. Further we compressed the entire site to ensure it loaded in a reasonably quick manner.

We also wanted to get across our passion for our craft, so we felt comparing it to the pursuits people go ‘all-in’ on, would get across the passion we have for design, and what it can achieve for our clients.

Whether it’s getting up super early to catch the right set of swells, prepping a vehicle to cross continents, meticulously planning your mountain hike, or practising that guitar riff again and again, those same passions are at the route of why we design and how we design.

An Obsession
Following that core concept of ‘the obsession’—which also forms the backbone of our campaign for the next 2 years—we produced matching brochure, leaflets, and new stationery to ensure consistent look, feel, message and tone across all our marketing materials.

We also came up with the interactive idea of balancing function and form, something very close to our hearts at Caffeine. So, each page has an image relating to that content along with the ability to play with the slider; meaning the image goes from plain but functional, to functional and highly decorated. We felt this was a nice illustrative way to get across how design is a balance of the two. Getting that balance right is critical to the success of any marketing tool.

The user journey through the site was designed to be clear, with our services in plain view, followed by our portfolio, staff bios, and of course the very kind testimonials we receive regularly. We then ensured the menu was easy to use, but also minimalist and clear.

Further it was imperative that every page has access to the contact form, so no matter where you are on the site, you can contact us quickly and simply.

A Start
So, we’ve not finished it yet, but we’ve got the core up and running, and considering how busy we’ve been over the last year, that feels like a real accomplishment.

What’s great about the web is it’s never finalised. We can test new ideas, try out optional home pages and more. The next step will be to optimise the site further for Google and Bing, and then look at additional elements, more portfolio items, new sections, and of course, regular news and blog items like this one…

We’d love your feedback, so please do drop us a line and let us know what you think of the new site.

Jeff

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