Design
Feeling Green: Potato PAK eCommerce
Monday, April 26th, 2010 | Design | No Comments
What I love about being a web designer is that it brings me in contact with all kinds of business ventures and the people who pursue them. Getting a good fit between the product and the site is the challenge for a web designer – the more diverse, the more interesting the work.
One website design I had heaps of fun with lately was Potato Pak. The product is fully biodegradable: plates, cutlery, cups, trays and bowls and a range of packaging, industrial and medical products – all made with a fully sustainable process which uses waste potato starch as a raw material. The brief was to enhance the search engine optimisation of the site, display all the product lines and deliver client and consumer a seamless eCommerce service. It was also to ensure that the unique nature of the environmental ethic behind PotatoPak was clear.
Website redesign for PotatoPak eCommerce
I’m passionate about the environment and think Potato Pak have developed an amazing product. It makes me so sad to see all the polystyrene and plastic (that goes into the landfill) still being used by supermarkets and food outlets all over town. Think of what a difference it would make if everyone was using these biodegradable plates, bowls and packaging.
If you feel the same way as I do, print and send the “Tell your Supermarket to get Potato Pak” PDF on the homepage and hand it in at your local supermarket or fast food joint.
Getting the home page right obviously meant showcasing the products but the client also wanted to communicate wider considerations than just marketing their product - such as the waste stream for the product and how that differed from non biodegradable packaging. This meant the navigation design included headings for community and environment and developing some graphic elements and embedding a video of the end user … a pig farm where used plates, scraps and all, become pig food.
We originally played around with a fun quirky site, but then realised that in order to appeal to supermarkets and top-end businesses we needed a more commercial, professional looking eCommerce site.
It was super-fun taking a product that I totally believe in and designing a fresh website and eCommerce store around it.
Seven Oaks logo development
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 | Design | 1 Comment
Introduction
Seven Oaks is an independent school in Christchurch. It is built on the principle that our children are not merely pieces of clay to be moulded into a particular size and shape. But in truth, as they will tell you, they have a great desire to create their own world and to live their own dreams.
Their requirements
They wanted a logo that was relevant for their school and encapsulated the holistic approach. At the same time it was important they didn’t appear airy fairy. They needed to show that they were grounded yet forward-thinking.
I feel passionately about raising our children to be empowered, responsible, passionate people and I loved what Seven Oaks were doing, so I was super keen to be involved with their new logo.
Final logo:
Seven Oaks School logo
I chose this icon as I felt it represented
- the internal/external holistic balance
- a seed or growing shoot
- a child in play
We then set about designing their website.
You can see the Seven Oaks logo incorporated in their website below.
Client comments
You are gooood! I think that the icon is beautiful and it is very appropriate. I agree that it represents all the things you mention. It also points the way forward. It looks so good, I’m struggling to find some good critical points. It’s unusual for me to find a logo which works so well at first take – maybe I need to live with it for a day or two, but to be honest, I’m not sure I can provide any feedback to improve it.
- Bruce McIntyre, Seven Oaks
Mint Catering logo
Saturday, October 17th, 2009 | Design | No Comments
Introduction
Mint Catering is the premier Canterbury catering company, based in the boutique area of Lyttelton Harbour.
Their requirements
They wanted a logo that was fresh, funky and incorporated a mint leaf.
Fresh and funky is my speciality and I have been really enjoying getting into the food and hospitality industry lately, so I was excited about working on this project
Final logo:
Mint Catering logo
I chose this font as it was contemporary and fresh
Client comments
Love it ! Fantastic…I think this concept is really good as I’m wanting that fresh new funky look …like that bright green it’s fresh!
- Tess Collingwood, Mint Catering
New Logo? Things to think about before we get started
Friday, September 19th, 2008 | Business tips, Design, Great website tips | No Comments
Do you need to like your logo?
Yes, it’s important that you like your logo. But remember, this logo isn’t to help you fall in love with your business, it is a marketing tool to increase business from other people …so what really matters is that your potential customers respond to it positively.
If you have a children’s clothing company, it’s not always the best idea to use your own kids or your kids drawings in the marketing just because they mean something to YOU.
Let’s face it – your logo is the first impression many of your customers you see. It may be on your business card, signage, packaging, clothing or may other brand related items. If you potential customer doesn’t respond well to your logo, you may have lost them forever. For thsi reason it’s very important to know your target market well and market directly to them. Are they professionals, creative, young, old, rich, poor. Where do they eat? Shop? What music do they like? The moer you know the better we can target the identity design towards them
Logo Dimensions
Think about the dimensions of your logo. Do you want a tall thin logo? Also, what if you decide to print your logo onto pens?
How about if your logo appears next to a collection of others – i.e. as a list of sponsors. It may appear smaller than it’s neighbours and get lost in the crowd. Often your brand is given a maximum width or a square to fit into so make sure your logo will get as much exposure as possible in these circumstances. How about if you ever need to squeeze the logo into a small square such as on a poster or a favicon?
What’s the message?
What do you want your logo to “say” about your business? What kind of impression should it leave about your product or service? What kind of look do you want for your logo (ie, techie, contemporary, old-school, artsy, eco, corporate etc.)
Very often clients want their logo to tell a story. Where the business came from, what it does, who is behind it. Don’t make the mistake of trying to cram too much information into a logo. Remember it’s about creating an impression, a feeling. A logo that says “Caring, Vet service, based in Christchurch, run by 3 men who love gardening” is probably going too far!
You hope that people will see your logo and immediately know what you do. But this may be asking your logo to do too much. Perhaps just a feeling of “professional” or “caring” is enough, so keep it simple. Together we can develop a logo that can represent the values and ideas your business stands for.
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