Maker + Made Shop
November 2021
Maker+Made is a design firm specializing in small business. The owner’s are also design and communication professors at Eastern Washington University. Meeting so many new entrepreneurs, they quickly saw an opportunity to use their experience and expertise to lend a hand. Not only entrepreneurs, but new designer’s would benefit as well. It was time to set up shop. A design shop that is.
Dive in to my process
Concept
Maker+Made is a full design firm specializing in branding, social media, print/packaging, and website design. The owners also teach at Eastern Washington University. They wanted to create a shop that is marketed to new business owners, freelancing entrepreneurs, as well as recent graduates and students that may not be able to afford their full services. Together we brainstormed products that would be useful to this demographic as well as awesome swag to market to their growing following.
Wireframes
Next, I create wireframes. This lets me layout the site and gives me a a direction and reference point when I later design the UI. For Mandala, I wanted to create a look that showcased the successful products they already market while also leaving plenty of growing room. This brand was evolving and it was important to me to create a site that was able to evolve with it.
Home page
The Homepage is the first impression of the brand to a user and I wanted to make sure that I introduced the brand in a direct, user friendly, and colorful way. This brand mostly markets as a wholesale brand but does not leave the individual with a taste for quality out.
Shop
Next I wanted to address the other major pain points. The store front was the most obvious choice. As previously stated, I wanted to create a page that was organized and current but also provided a systematic layout for growth. Users are able to add items to their cart with a single click both on the home page and shop page. Items are designed with a quick view feature as well as an additional product page.
Mandala’s story and pride in quality products were an important ___ to the brand. It was important for me to set aside a page to really showcase this. I wanted an easy, digestable layout that inspired the user and ended with a call to action.
Product Pages
Mandala’s products are individual and their product page should reflect that as well. Using brand elements to highlight the ingredients and packaging I designed each product page to give a feel for each individual product. There is also an add to cart and subscribe option to encourage returning customers.
Designing for the future
This brand was incredibly fun to work with. This was my first ecommerce site I designed and I without a doubt was learning and challenging myself each step of the way. Learning how to strategically set up a shop page was the most valuable lesson for me. I also really focused in perfecting design guides while intentionally breaking them to create balanced collage graphics. I learned how to jump in during the middle of a project, listen to client and our creative director’s vision and design a website that was representing all of our interpretations cohesively.
After the site was designed I created UI and style guides to be sent to the developers. It is currently in the process of being built.
Design Specs
November 2021
Under the art direction of Maker+Made
Responsibilities
Research
Design
UX Methods
Research
Wireframes
UI
User Testing
Tools
Adobe Creative Suite
Squarespace