Shortly after arriving at Agraria, I went about the task of overhauling all collateral. At the time, they had an ad created by one designer, a very amateurish catalog was done by another, and the web site (which looked like an Amazon-style commerce site) by yet another. Quality judgements aside, there was no consistency of brand message.
The process started with the web site. The web site was the primary brand communication tool that was direct to consumers. I started with a creative direction/style guide based on the key branding elements that existed, elements that needed to be "played-up", and new elements to better enhance the brands position.
One primary element was consistency of photography across all branded materials. The styling, lighting, angles all needed to be better defined. I created the inspiration board shown above and then did a series of tests with photographer Elio Tolot. We concluded with the long landscape, still life format shown in the web pages below.With a "luxury" positioning, it was important to take the "hard-sell" off the site. I added a formal entrance (the logo landing page with a revised signature caning pattern) at the front and de-cluttered the home page to have a single (slide show) image with a clean row of highlight boxes to promote new lines, events, and press.
Green was an important element in all packaging so I used a dark green to create a more intimate mood for the site. The darkness also allowed the images to take center stage. I created a more stationery-like format to formalize the feel and used the "crest" logo at the top in gold for a crowning touch.
In the year following the redesign, sales and traffic doubled on the site.
-rm
