Vanessa Wilcox Photography case study
We met Vanessa at a seminar. She is an accomplished, highly qualified (and very talented) professional photographer from Malton. She approached us and explained the frustration that she was experiencing with her website and the apparent inability of a succession of ‘web designers’, ‘web developers’, ‘graphic designers’ and internet marketeers to understand her needs and make them a reality.
The brief
Quite simply, she wanted her logo, website and corporate identity material to be redesigned so that they all have a common look and feel. One which would showcase the type of service she offers. Most of Vanessa’s clients are female. Hardly surprising really (hands up all the men who have organised wedding photography?). The logo design had to be female orientated, contain a pink butterfly and be elegant as well as being easily transferrable across different media.
How we were able to help
We showed Vanessa a few ideas and eventually we refined the design into its finished form:
Next came the website. She required us to keep her corporate colours of pink, black and white. She wanted her website to have an entirely different look to the ones that photographers typically prefer (dark backgrounds etc.) and wanted animations to really show her work off. She also wanted the facility to edit it herself through her browser and be able to track the visitors to the site, their viewing habits, and buying patterns. But most of all she wanted it to appeal to women!
This posed a few design problems, not least of which it could be argued that photographs are better displayed against a dark background. We suggested a few compromises and the one she eventually opted for was to give each photograph a black border and a shadow. We felt that this would give the desired effect when matched with a white background. We suggested that the site contain pictures of smiling women on the basis that if almost every women’s magazine has a smiling female face on the front then there must be something in it! We also suggested that one such face should be her own not only to add authenticity but also because she looks very friendly and easy to work with (and believe me she really is, anybody having their photograph taken by her cannot help feel comfortable and relaxed!).
The next issue was how to accommodate so many pages whilst keeping the site easy to navigate and we agreed that this would be best served by having drop down menus. The SEO consequences to this decision were addressed in other ways. In fact her site became considerably more popular on search engines than it had been before. Her sales have increased markedly, she receives many compliments about the site (which she is able to update herself) and she is delighted that she found The Holt Studio. This is what she has to say:
“The Holt Studio has worked very hard to produce the logo and website that I wanted. I am delighted with the results and the effect they have had on my business. I really am chuffed to bits!”
Vanessa Wilcox
Director
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