Blog

Here at BED HQ, we work blimmin’ hard deliver platinum standard work through a mastery of technology, fantabulous design, creative (and often wacky) thinking, with a bend-over-backwards attitude to customer satisfaction.

We establish our clients as leaders in their given industry (from plastic wholesalers to solicitors and music labels, you name it, we’ve done it!), whether that be through conceiving unique brand identities, designing bespoke marketing collateral, or developing an online presence in its entirety; we give all our clients (no matter how big or small they are) the ability to take on, and take over their competitors, with gusto!

Our lovely client, SofaSofa; a major player in the furniture industry, came to us in October with a new business venture. Wanting to launch a new website dedicated to the selling of high quality, affordable sofas without the high street price tag. The new branch of the company was to make the bold move into eCommerce, to move sales online and away from out-dated catalogue orders.

Now, we couldn’t just knock up any old site, this needed to be a solution that was built for longevity and adaptability in mind to support the businesses inevitable future growth. We needed to design and build a site, equipped to compete with the large multi-national brands at the current helm of the market place, that would also provide it’s users with a better experience and overall service. There really was lots to cover, and we had lots of fun exploring and developing our ideas.

After discussing our thoughts with the client, it was agreed that Magento would be the best platform to build the site on. This would not only provide a blank canvas in terms of design but it would also give the client the ability to have full control over content and product management which would be important as the range on offer grows. Within the Magento system we would also integrate WordPress, a live chat module for real time customer service, and also introduce bespoke graphics and animations through out the site.

Below is our thought process, from conceptualising the brand through to developing the wireframe and moving onto the initial design phase of the homepage, and after a few more tweaks, the finished article! Check it out over at www.couch.co.uk!

You will notice the brand name changes from Slouch to Couch as this was something the client was undecided on at the time, so we used them both to help the client visualise how they would look on the site.

————————————————————————————————————————————————

The BED Process:

1 Brand Development
First we work to develop the brand identity, exploring stamps, typography and colour palette.

2 MindMap
We involve the whole team and collaborate towards a solid solution that meets the requirements of the brief. We discuss possible avenues for design and how functionality can support the user experience.

3 Wireframe / UX Overview
Next, we take the ideas that came out of the team collaboration and lay these up onto a wireframe and test the user interface.

4 Initial Homepage Design
Once the wireframes are solid, we use them to mock up the initial rounds of design for the homepage.

5 Finalised Designs
After a few design tweaks we arrive at our final design that we took through to complete the project.

————————————————————————————————————————————————

Brand Development

couch-brand-developmentcouch-brand-development-logocouch-logo-reverse

couch-colour-palette
couch-user-interface-styles

Wireframe

couch-wireframe

 Initial Design

couch-initial-design

Final Design

couch-imac

Live Site

couch-homepage

By Steve

31 / 01 / 2014

Magento
eCommerce

Magento is the leading solution for eCommerce, and we’re specialists. Magento is easy-to-use, completely customisable and endlessly scalable.

Header Image

Bespoke
Builds

We offer custom web development services for any requirement. Manufacturing from scratch, we deliver a project entirely tailored to your needs.

Header Image

Working with brands nationally from our offices in Cardiff and Cornwall, our tenacious team of designers and developers deliver sophisticated results every time.

It looks like you're offline - You can visit any of the pages you previously have