Create a luxury brand website appealing to both foreign tourists and Japanese natives. While avoiding creating a cluttered site that is typically seen on Japanese websites.
Web Design + Branding
J-Cast JoliArts Co. Ltd.
2017
The project needed to be completed in 6-weeks during my stay in Japan. The original site was made on Wix and had to be scrapped. I'd have to take the initiative in creating the branding and style guide. Transforming the text-heavy business plan and presentations into user-friendly website content. The professional photo shoot for the nail designs was on my last day in Japan.
First I set up the structure by creating a collaborative Google Drive folder, requested photos and content. From there I determined what was usable. Afterward, I set up a brand structure. In addition to mocking up and developing the website. I was able to complete 10 usable web pages and their Japanese equivalent before my departure. Factor in: responsiveness, SEO, social media open graphs, accessibility, page speed and performance.
The old saying "content is king" is a serious concept even working abroad. Words needed to be both written and translated into Japanese. Having only partial text and majority lorem ipsum slowed down translation. And when a decision was made to start with translations despite the incomplete English text nor approved final draft, I knew I'd be in for a daunting back and forth. Lesson Learned: Create the content early if possible first.
Professional photos make a HUGE difference. The diamond nail collection only had a few professional images. Other pages, by comparison, seemed lacked luster without professional shots. Photos taken by salonists' phones weren't enough. Interestingly the photoshoot took place on my last day on the job. I manage to create the website with the photos I had on hand. Once the photos were switched with those from the photoshoot the difference was evident. Lesson Learned: Beg more for professional photos and press for an early photoshoot.
UI mockups on Photoshop
Design
Method of build selection
Entire coding of site
Unexpectedly creating site content
Photoshop
Bootstrap
Fullpage JS
SCSS
Flexbox
Html5