preview site
here I wanted to give the consumer a unique experience, unlike the typical antique dealer website. I also wanted to take an approach, both visually and experientially, much different from the estate sale’s initial approach of “just fill the page with repetitive content.” I wanted views of the site to want to navigate through the stores vast variety of goods with ease, whether or not they new what they were looking for or just checking in and seeing what was new to the collection. By creating a easy system of organization and navigation, I feel that the consumer is more likely to visit and stay a while on the site and stumble upon or seek out specific items that will ultimately lead them to visit the store to view the item in person.
My approach was based on the idea that the collection of antiques/ goods that make the store what it is, and not the other way around. I wanted to give the site a formal look but also make it warm and approachable with a sense of charm. To achieve an elegant look and feel, I used a serif font, Adobe Garamond Pro, to bring cohesion to the site with the Estate Sale name and content on the page. The estate sale does not currently have a logo, just the name in type, so I felt this approach of unity throughout the site with the text worked well with the splash page pattern application. I felt that the estate sale, although the idea that the store is ultimately about the products it sells, still needed a visual identity that did remind viewers of the site that yes, this is the estate sale’s website and not just “fill in the blank” antique shop. I felt the best way to implement this identity experience without overwhelming the page was to create the aesthetic for the splash page and the carry it out consistently throughout the experience. I executed this idea by creating the bottom pattern line that gave the page some closure to what would otherwise be a wide open experience. I also applied elements of the pattern work from the splash page to the information navigation at the top of the page. To view the store’s hours, rolling the mouse over the clock icon will bring up the cohesive design element of the stylized pop up information bubble that displays the hour information without wasting a click and taking the customer away from the experience of shopping and discovering.
Upon entering the site, the customer will be brought from the splash page to the home page. The home page is an important feature quickly showcasing new items recently added to the collection. From here the consumer has a few options to approach the collection, whether they know exactly what they want or are just having a look around and trying to get some inspiration. Viewing of the collection can happen in various ways based on the level of shopper; search bar for those who know the item name or number (experienced), the home page displays items new to the collection (new to experienced users), the search by room feature allows customers to get a sense of what seen in the collection fit the room they are looking to purchase for, search by item feature allows a customer to search for specific pieces by category.
All the searching is organized visually, as in how you would be seeking in the store. I wanted to use the grey silhouettes to un-clutter this experience, to not overwhelm the user and keep them on task to ultimately get to full color pictures with great detail of the product. The store has a vast amount of items in the collection, and i feel that if the user is bombarded with too many images and too much clutter, the may get distracted from the goal of purchasing and not ultimately visit the store. The illustrations of the products and product categories also brings another unique element that speaks to the formal yet charming and warm aesthetic that I wanted to achieve for the site experience. It places an overarching brand and identity to the products in the collection that have their own brands and identities. The more we can say The Estate Sale without saying “the estate sale,” I think is the best way for the company to utilize the website as a marketing tool.
