Client
Year
Application
Uni Project
2020
Website
Overview
Garden state is a lifestyle product website which centralises all gardening needs. It maintains emphasis on sharing and creating reliable sources of garden information through articles, community social channels and showcasing highly trusted products.
Brief
The project was to design, build, and deploy a prototype website of four pages that provides information to the public about a lifestyle topic. The project required a navigation menu, responsive/adaptive design, high quality licensed images, and text which all respond to the user needs.
Problem Statement
How can we connect users to a community through a lifestyle website which encapsulates all of their gardening needs.
Objectives
Create a unique brand identity which stands out in the gardening & lifestyle scene
Ensure consistent style, clear page hierarchy and seamless navigation
Research
My goal whilst researching was to conduct a competitor analysis across ten websites identifying the most popular pages and features used across each to inform my own design. I wanted to find well built pages which combined ease of use with unique features and a stylish layout. The ideal site structure would also outline effective ways to intersect product sales, information, with a brand image which users feel they can trust.
Development
From my research, there was a clear indication that gardening websites aim to create a sense of community. Gardeners want a reputable source to listen to and often take advice from other experienced handlers. With some websites having their own team of writers, social links or built in accounts for forums.
From my analysis I chose to do four pages including About Us, Articles, Products and Contact, which were all used consistently across competitor sites. My aim was to improve on the outdated layouts currently in use and create a brand which was there to help at every step of a client’s needs.
Skillset
Competitive Analysis
Brand Identity
Responsive layout (Desktop + Mobile)
Style Guide for use across pages
High Fidelity Prototyping in Adobe XD
Responding to Client Needs
Sourcing high quality images, icons and typography