This is an online shop for a health food retailer in The Hague. They already had a website, but it needed updating and streamlining, including reworking of the logo and branding. The project was basically great fun, and I hope that comes across in the atmosphere of the site.
I aimed for a fresh and alive feeling with the design, to inspire a sense of health and purity. The Flash slideshow on the homepage also makes it feel alive, but keeps a tranquil pace. This was backed up with good quality product images, which can be seen in detail, plus simple navigation.
The client wanted the site to be professional and informative, but with an emphasis on personal service. We therefore used staff pictures and a friendly contact page, to make sure the customer never feels far away from a real person. There is also a blog section where visitors can subscribe to free health tips and product features, which gives a nice personal touch.
For anyone who’s interested in the technical stuff, the structure is in Drupal, with Ubercart for the shopping functionality. This allows for a huge amount of flexibility, both now and in the future. For example, the site needs to be bilingual, although the English section will be completed at a later date.
Hello
I have to admit that when we first explained to Sumangali how we wanted our site to look and what ‘feel’ it should have that it must have been pretty confusing for her! We wanted it to be stylish but not sterile, professional but still warm and bright, and in line with the ‘natural’ and ‘meditative’ image of our store. We ourselves didn’t have a clue how all that should be accomplished. Then when we saw the first design we were flabbergasted! It was exactly how we had dreamed it should look and feel though we didn’t know it ourselves! I think Sumangali’s longstanding practice of meditation helps her to have this kind of oneness with other people and businesses. That besides her obvious artistic talent makes working with her a really uplifting experience! I joked with her that if Saraswati (the Indian Goddess of beauty and art) would reside in cyberspace she would surely be comfortable on our website, and that is really all thanks to Sumangali!
P.S. Sumangali received her name from meditation teacher Sri Chinmoy, it means: ‘She who brings, from the Supreme, auspicious good fortune to all who are around her.’ And you know what; I think it is true, because our websales have increased by 50% since she redesigned our site!