The Iona Group has launched a new website! Our goal was to create a website that is engaging and informs clients of our creativity and expertise. We are excited with the overall design, functionality, and navigation. We feel that the site represents Iona’s professionalism and strong relationships with clients such as Pioneer Hi-Bred International, The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, Caterpillar, Tyson Foods, Adler Planetarium, and Shure Incorporated.
We conducted a survey, reviewed the previous site’s Google analytics, and conducted a competitive analysis during the Define Phase of the project. Based upon the website analysis findings, we set out to create a website that was easily navigable, highlighted social networking, and showcased our expertise. Iona is comprised of experts. We showcase this in our new website through the following methods: blog posts, client project examples, seminars, and speaking at conferences. A SWOT analysis was conducted on companies whose services are equivalent to Iona's services. The analysis was based upon the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of our competitors. The companies design aesthetic, content, navigation, and functionality were evaluated. The companies evaluated are regionally and nationally located in relation to Iona. Through the analysis findings, we wanted to create a website that has no limits or boundaries with our competition.
There are various visual elements within the website that help us achieve our goals and findings from the analysis conducted in the Define Phase of the project. Iona wanted to create a greater emphasis on case studies, current work, and blog features on the homepage to show our expertise and knowledge through writing and work examples during the Design of the project.
There is a positioning statement on the homepage that informs users of "who we are" and "what we do" through the “process” and “about” links. We are chartering the great work we design and develop for our clients as the main visual element within the website. There are four service areas Iona divides projects into within the website: Event, Web, eLearning, and Exhibit. These service areas provide users with projects to view. In addition, there is a listing of clients that we currently work with that allows users to view projects from that client. Once the user has entered a client project subpage, there is a project description and project thumbnail examples. The user can select thumbnails of video and still images from the project that can be viewed.
We are now using the typeface Helvetica for it’s marketing and branding. The font is legible, sophisticated, and has a large type-family. We are showcasing individual portfolio projects as the core design elements within the website. A more sophisticated tertiary color scheme has been created to convey a more sophisticated message. The layout is easily expandable which will allow the design to stay fresh and showcase our more current work. This is accomplished by the website being developed using WordPress during the Design and Development Phase of the project. In addition, we considered mobile media for the functionality and design of our website. As a result, the website has gesture navigation for the viewing of projects.
As mentioned earlier, we are thrilled with the overall design, functionality, and navigation. We feel that it represents Iona’s expertise, professionalism, and creativity. We look forward to the future.
Hi Dude,
ReplyDeleteLaunching a new website is so amazingly hard that most people have sleepless nights for weeks before and still end up making a mess of it. Successfully launching site has been described as an art form. Thanks a lot!