Boxes of Babylon Website
An ecommerce website selling unique gift boxes
Boxes of Babylon mission is to provide evocative and meaningful moments in the form of bespoke, inspirational, limited edition, curated gift boxes.
My role
Senior Digital Designer
Skills
User interface design
Visual design
Art direction
Timeline
2015 (6 weeks)
BRIEF
Start-up ecommerce business
The client approached Rocket Agency with an idea for a new business. They had a successful events business that often required premium, luxury gifts and they struggled to find a company that offered the level of packaging, gift quality and thoughtfulness that they wanted for their gifts. Having traveled the world and seen amazing gifts and crafts overseas they saw a gap in the luxury gift market to create an online store which would allow them to put together bespoke gift boxes for that special occasion, business or pleasure.
With a limited branding guide and no experience in web or digital marketing, the client was looking for guidance to build their business from the ground up and help them launch in Australia in 2015 and then expand into Europe in 2016.
PROCESS
Understanding the clients vision
The client had very high expectations in terms of design. Although they had a logo and packaging design ready, as a new startup, the client did not have a complete visual identity that they could market to their target audience. The two key markets Boxes of Babylon sell to are direct business to consumer and larger corporates. The design needed to communicate to these markets as well as reflect the story of the artisans the products are carefully selected from.
Challenges
During the design process, there were initial communication challenges by way of a changing design brief. Quality photography and website content was not ready in the early stages which led to concepts that didn’t satisfy the client. We offered further guidance and advice to assist the client to establish a clearer design brief and once we received all the materials for the website, we were able to compose a website design that is strong on imagery with an easy to navigate layout.
A further challenge was tight timing, with a looming Mother’s day campaign date set. The earlier issues ate into the project timeline, however we worked diligently to have the website ready by the set date.
SOLUTION
Reflecting the quality of the product
The outcome of the Boxes of Babylon website is an engaging and visually strong design that highlights the quality of the product, as well as a clear user journey to purchase any of the products displayed.
The navigation of the site is simple and contrasts well from surrounding elements making it easy to recognise and find. There are consistent areas of the site like navigation and breadcrumbs, social buttons and cart functions that are pattern forming and therefore minimises users’ memory load.
Purchasing a product is easy and the website gives the users appropriate feedback on what is going on at each step. The site is efficient for different experience levels as there are multiple ways to buy a product, through a step by step or shortcut process. There are also various points in the site that help users to recognise and recover from any problems when entering cart and checkout pages.
RECOGNITION
Winning all round
It was an exciting time when the website was finally launched and the initial orders came through the site with little issue. Not only did we launch the site on time, the client was overall really happy and we won an award for our work.
A real pleasure working with this client and very grateful to have received the first set of their luxurious gift boxes. For me, a baby themed gift box, as I was pregnant at the time.
A win for this project was being awarded a Silver at the 2015 Sydney Design Awards in the digital experience category. The award celebrates innovation and creativity in design of a unique user experience in the combination of text, audio, still images, animation, video, and interactivity content for websites. Consideration is also given to clarity of communication and the matching information style to audience.
TAKEAWAYS
What I learnt from this project
Setting expectations
Looking back, the timing for a project of this size was cut really short with all the challenges we had to face. The project changed hands several times with other designers before I was assigned to it. It was therefore really important to set expectations to the client and to do this as soon as possible. Building trust earlier on in the piece meant the client was more forgiving when there were any hurdles or blockers along the way.
Balancing different needs
It can be a real challenge when you have different needs to answer to. The needs of the user, prospective customers, the client and their business, even the agency you work for and the various roles that will be involved in a web project. It requires some compromises and the ability to take on critique from all different angles.
SPECIAL THANKS
Business Development Manager David Roberts
Project Consultant Paul Martusewicz
Web Project Manager Stacey Martin
Digital Marketing Account Manager Qiret Lane