5 Nicole Rule Photography Weddings Website
clint rule interactive web design itgm 715 Professor SuAnne Fu 2010 / 4 / 23
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OVERVIEW
Nicole Rule Photography (henceforth, “NRP”) is a small photography business owned and operated by Nicole Rule. The business is based out of Savannah, Georgia, and this is where most clients reside and utilize NRP services. The business is new to the area, and marketing is currently of utmost importance. This points toward a need for a complete overhaul of the NRP web presence. The current NRP website is a single site in which all facets of the business reside alongside each other--conforming to the same layout and style. In order to accomodate this, the current site’s layout is very minimal. While the design is therefore clean, it can come across lacking a fitting aesthetic for individual sections (“wedding photography” or “children portraiture”, for example). This strict style also impedes navigation and heirarchy. NRP’s different facets each require unique information (pricing, service descriptions, etc.). The result is either a lack of information or too much of it. The proposed renovation will split NRP’s services into distinct websites that belong to the same family. For example, the wedding photography section will be moved to weddings.nicolerule.com, and will therefore have its own unique style, information, and navigation. This treatment is concerned only with the first phase of this renovation which is the Weddings website for NRP.
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STRATEGY
Create a website focused on the wedding photography services of NRP. Without the need to design with other facets of NRP in mind, all aspects of the website should be wedding-centric.
Look to the needs, desires, and tastes of users and potential clients in designing the website. Similar to the above point, due to the focus on one service of NRP, a tighter demographic can be targetted.
Secondarily, develop patterns of heirarchy and/or aesthetics that could “brand� the family of NRP websites. A unique challenge to the renovation is the need/desire for a more-implicit-than-explicit connection to be made with other NRP service sites that will eventually be deployed.
Try to utilize as much SEO-friendly content as possible. The current/old NRP website is completely flash-based and therefore offers very little content that can be spidered by search engines.
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DEMOGRAPHIC
According to an interview with Nicole Rule of NRP, most interest and communication she receives in regards to her wedding photography services are from women. While the range of age can be quite wide, the majority of interest comes from women in their twenties. It is likely safe to assume that this is the result of cultural influence and not the style in which NRP has marketed itself in the past. Another demographic concern is tied to geography. Savannah is hot spot for destination weddings. This has been confirmed by Mrs. Rule’s experience thus far in the area. Even for locals the natural and architectural beauty of the area is distinct and desirable. Thus, in both the portfolio but also in the formal qualities of the website, there is a need to capture the aesthetics of the area.
To summarize:
Women 20-30 years Southern (specifically, Savannahian)
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SITE MAP
portraits
portfolio home/splash
pricing about contact
ceremony reception
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DESIGN COMP introduction/splash page
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DESIGN COMP portfolio page
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DESIGN COMP contact page
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DESIGN COMP intrdoction/splash page
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FEEDBACK / TESTING
Portfolio Testing This area yielded the most feedback, mainly on account of the presence of a sub-menu. Initially, I was using the Lightbox script to display the photographs. However, this was causing some difficulty/confusion. Since the portfolio is divided into three pages, my test subjects were slow to realize their presence, due to Lightbox’s ‘overwhelming’ presentation method. Thus, I decided to do away with Lightbox and kept all the portfolio navigation within the website’s framing.
Visual Style The second area of concern was that of the visual aesthetic of the site in regards to clients and subject matter. Initially, testers felt that while the southern, Savannah style of the site was definitely coming across, the feeling of wedding and youthfulness was not. I altered the font from a serif, italic font to a san-serif font that feels a bit more young/modern. I also lightened up the wallpaper background to be white more than cream.