Carol Bridal
Overview
I currently work as a freelance designer with Carol Bridal. I am responsible for the creation and development of their website including SEO, content, and copy.
Goals
– To Establish A Brand Identity
– To create a web presence to establish a connection with the new target audience
Brand Exploration
Previous work made by another designer.
About Carol Bridal
Carol Bridal is a small mom-and-pop shop located in Glendale, Queens, NY. After being in Brooklyn for over 40 years, they moved to Queens.
Auditing Our Assets
The company did not have many assets that displayed the brand’s visual identity. The images featured in this section are examples of assets that were available: a hanger that contained bow, a wedding dress, and the name of the shop written in script; the logo featured two blue intersecting rings; the logo featuring a yellow diamond, and a red tie as a tittle for the i;
I wanted to incorporated the available assets as inspiration to define the visual brand identity.
Previous logo featuring intersecting rings made by another designer.
Storefront logo featuring a yellow diamond and red bow tie. Made by another designer.
Defining the Brand Personality
Carol Bridal is a small mom-and-pop shop, therefore the shop’s characteristics reflect this idea to resonate with their customers.
Experienced. Charming. Classic. Friendly. Dependable.. Professional. Trustworthy. Welcoming.
Color
The brand color was derived from the intersecting rings featured on the logo. I used this color as the basis to create the brand’s entire palette.
Typography
Using the hanger image that contained bow, a wedding dress, and the name of the shop written in script, I selected Shelby, a script that combined both charming and friendly characteristic. Since the typeface is based on hand lettering, it conveys a warm and personal tone.
Logo
The shop only had a low quality jpeg version of their logo, and I recreated the logo in vector format to be able to several different formats. The shop mostly used an all black logo, and a white logo featuring red and yellow on the store front. I introduced an all white logo as well as a logo using the brand blue.
Website design
Overview of Project
Being in a different market, the regulars continued to be regulars, but they wanted to increase company awareness and establish a connection with the new target audience. They came to me with a domain and non-functional website. They wanted a larger web presence starting with a new website that would provide their new audience with information about their company, as well as display some of the products they have available in their shop.
First Iteration
They also wanted to use a pre-made layout and an easy-to-use CMS. They chose Go-Daddy as their service provider. I adjusted the layouts to reflect the brand color choices. Since the CMS was limited in its ability, there was no way to have a primary navigation link to have both a landing page and subpages.
PrOBLEM
Limited Customization Options
The primary navigation was not able to have subpages and a landing page, which made it difficult for users to go between subpages. There was no easy way for a user to return to the primary navigation landing page without clicking on the navigation or using the browser’s back button.
SOLUTION
Create Button
I added a button to the subpages that would bring the user back to the landing page. I created a customized button that match the style of the rest of the buttons, using HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript.
Although this solution was a better for the user, it still wasn’t the best solution. Therefore we decided to recreate the website from scratch.
Current Plans & Goals
Redesign Website to Satisfy Goals
We have switched hosting providers as well as redesigning the entire website from scratch due to the limited customization options. The limitation has reflected poorly on the user experience and the visual brand, therefore we developing a website that accurately reflects the brand.
For this project, we plan to make the website more user-friendly. We plan to offer the website in two languages, display more products, add titles and product numbers for the products, filters for the content, and more.
Although the website is active, the project is being updated in stages and is currently in Stage 2 Development.
Results
Consistency in Branding
By establishing the Brand Identity has led to consistency in Carol Bridal’s Branding.
Increased Traffic
By creating a web presence and redesigning the website, the has been increased traffic to the website. This has also led to more inquiries and visits in person.
Other Work
I was responsible for all the copy, content, SEO settings, as well as creation of the favicon. I also linked their Yelp and Facebook accounts to the website.