Tag Archive for: Case Study

The power of playful design

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As a graphic design studio with a predominantly corporate focus, it’s such fun when we can ‘spread our wings’ on a project like this one! Many Salt projects are guided by brand guidelines where consistency and polished design are required. So what happens when we have a project that calls for fun, playful design without the usual confines of corporate design? We kick-off our shoes and grab our most colourful markers!

Where to begin?

Sometimes, it’s difficult for our clients to know how to begin a new project. So to help with the process, we ask questions to develop the project’s intent and design direction.

The first questions focus on the purpose of the project:

  • What is the reason for this project?
  • Who is the audience?
  • What is the best way to connect with this audience?

And then there’s the technical questions:

  • How many pages?
  • How long will it take?
  • How much will it cost?

For a new educational resource about Native Australian Bees titled “Powerful Pollinators”, our client had so much knowledge and information to share with school-aged children. They wanted to educate and inspire the generation of future farmers; to show them how important these tiny creatures are to our native habitat and to the future of our environment. By focussing on determining the answers to our questions we were able to understand and develop a strong creative brief for the activity book.

Colour your world!

We wanted to get these avid readers excited about the pages of this activity book. To grab their favourite markers and get to work adding even more colour! Bringing the pages to life with vibrant patterns and graphics, we created a design that catches their attention, encourages them think, learn and have fun!

Understanding what it is we are designing

We read what we design. It’s imperative to ensuring the design befits the content – what is seen first, what comes next, what are the important take-aways from each page. Once we understand the content and context, we use our design expertise to add value and support what is being presented, so it can be easily read and effectively understood.

For Powerful Pollinators, our client provided us with a collection of information snippets and facts, plus a few ideas for activities suitable for the reader’s age group. It was quite a mixed bag!

To begin, we spread the activities across the 12 text pages and then added the relevant fact snippets. Once we had the content in place, we embellished the page designs with heading styles, highlight treatments for facts, and coloured patterns to add life and interest. By considering the page layouts, font styling and colour palette, we brought together the pages to create a playful, yet consistent design. We also remained mindful of the comprehension ability of the reader age group – ensuring font sizes were appropriate and the level of information suitable.

We’re buzzing with excitement to know this activity book has kids having fun while learning!

Thanks also to Ellie and Frankie who tested the activities!

salt-shaker-signoffBecause everything is better with a sprinkle of salt!
SALT.Shaker

 

Designing delicious websites

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There’s a saying “we eat with our eyes!”… So, when your business is food, your website has to be a mouth-watering visual delight!

An unexpected change to doing business

When COVID-19 hit, bookings erased from our event calendars literally overnight! Anniversary celebrations, 21st birthday parties, weddings, corporate engagements, formal dinners were no longer allowed.

Food FX Catering’s business landscape changed significantly due to the pandemic – business lunches were no longer a thing, formal gatherings were reduced to six close contacts, large parties were considered potential health risks.

When word-of-mouth is the modus operandi for new business generation, how do you source new work and new clients?

As a small boutique business, working both in and on the business can be challenging. For Food FX Catering, there never seemed to be enough time to do it all. Sadly, their existing website reflected this – outdated, lacking information and presence.

The silver lining to catering cancellations meant there was time to address the website and ‘pivot’ the business to capture clients online.

Giving customers what they are searching for

People are known to ‘shop around’ for caterers, and websites provide a great starting point to learn the basics – what services are available? and for how much?

Visiting competitor sites provided us an insight into what information to include on the site. Assessing the various methods of promotion cemented the style and design approach we wanted to take. Our client was insistent that they did not want to look too expensive or out-of reach of many. Importantly, they wanted their website to reflect their experience and friendly, wholesome approach to catering.

We set about developing a website framework with a better platform for engagement with customers. We created a design layout which visually presents a showcase of our client’s menu and catering capabilities. And we composed content to provide people with the information they search for when choosing a caterer.

“Happiness is eating dessert before lunch!”

As a person-to-person business engagement, it was important to our client that the warm and friendly personality of Food FX Catering was conveyed throughout the site. To do this we used language with a hint of humour – a genuine reflection of our client and their approach.

Although we couldn’t alter the existing logo, we revitalised the brand through colour and typography. And including a tantalisingly tasty selection of images added an emotional response while still provided even more details of the catering services provided.

Catering information pack

So how do you convert a potential customer into an actual booking? Food FX Catering had a Word file which could be downloaded from their site, filled out and submitted for a quote. It was outdated, lacked so much information and missed the opportunity to connect and gather contact information from prospective customers.

We replaced this file with an interactive PDF information kit. The new file provides detailed menus and package options, answers common questions around hiring a caterer, and is easier to submit. The new information kit also saves time for our client to collect booking details, customer information, and gives them a bridge to an initial consultation.

The pandemic was not an experience we want anyone to go through again! However, it has given some businesses the opportunity to reflect, address and reinvigorate their brand and approach to doing business.

As we head toward ‘normal’ life again, we’re glad to see catering events are happening even bigger and better for Food FX Catering! We may be bias, but we think it’s thanks to their website being ‘well-seasoned with Salt!’

salt-shaker-signoffBecause everything is better with a sprinkle of salt!
SALT.Shaker