Substance151 designed, wrote and developed a fully responsive website with a customized WordPress build. The redesign strategy centered around showcasing Floura Teeter’s unique studio structure (Pathways and Places), capturing its unique culture, and creating a portfolio-forward website that provides tangible proof of the firm’s brand promise and value proposition and attracts prospective clients and employees.
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Creating Differentiation
In analyzing the firm’s competitive landscape, we saw that most websites were online portfolios with project beauty shots. Although highly compelling, the images blended together into one endless showcase of undistinguishable experiences. They failed to answer the fundamental question every prospect is asking, “Why should I choose your firm?”
It was clear that for the new website to stand out, we needed to make sure that Floura Teeter’s brand and personality – and, most importantly, its value to clients – are front and center. We needed to showcase the thinking behind the projects and solutions as much as the project outcomes.
Balancing High-Design Aesthetic and Distinct Culture and Personality
Floura Teeter’s brand identity has an extended color palette, which the firm had struggled to fully utilize in its communications. Our solution was to create color-coded sections, adding visual interest and a unique backdrop for the project photography without the distraction or visual overwhelm.
Armed with the new strategic brand and message platform, we developed the overall design aesthetic to achieve the following:
Carefully balance Floura Teeter’s sophisticated work and the desired brand perception of a confident, highly competent firm with its enthusiastic personality and open, personable culture.
Showcasing People
Floura Teeter’s internal culture nurtures and grows people. Connecting professionally and personally (internally and with clients) and having fun working together, as well as being visible and active in the communities in which team members live and work, is inherent in who Floura Teeter is.
To better communicate the uniqueness of Floura Teeter’s team, Substance151 proposed that each individual bio include an on-brand testimonial and a fun fact to strike a critical balance between showcasing expertise (education, project experience) and humanizing the profiles by showing each individual’s personality.
Technical Development
The website was built using its latest visual editor Gutenberg, which adds even more flexibility to the site editing experience, specifically designed for modern media-rich pages and posts.
Using Gutenberg’s content blocks (tailored to the website’s specific design and administrative workflow) as the foundation for page layouts, we allowed for multiple layout options within each page template. Combined with our fully custom approach to design and WordPress development, it provided the Floura Teeter team with optimal flexibility for updating and managing the site.
Achieving Results
The new website is fully aligned with the firm’s new brand. We translated the new brand platform into compelling high-level messages and page copy that’s unique and effective and speaks directly to the needs and wants of Floura Teeter’s primary audiences.
In the four months post launch:
The team at Substance151 expertly guided Floura Teeter through our rebranding and new website project. Throughout the process, Ida Cheinman and her team educated me and our staff on best practices and trends in web design and functionality. I would hire them again without hesitation and look forward to the opportunity to do so in the future.
