INTRO
The Emerald is a breathtaking wedding venue in the heart of Thomastown, Victoria.
I worked with The Emerald founders, Monika and Natasha Petrovska, to build the brand from the ground up. The goal was to build a brand that targets couples searching for wedding venues in Thomastown.
Despite Melbourne having some well-established wedding venues in the city, The Emerald targeted couples who live and have most family members living in Thomastown.
Contributions
- UX/UI and web development
- Design system
- Brand and identity design
- Social media creatives
- UX/UI and web development
- Design system
- Brand and identity design
- Social media creatives
THE CHALLENGE
The aim was to create a strong brand identity and website that positioned The Emerald as a classic luxury wedding venue in a non-traditional location. The most important points were launching an optimized website and defining the main purpose of the venue and its niche market. The main constraint was that the wedding venue business in Melbourne is already a saturated market and other businesses are well-established. The team was small and this means I had to take on multiple responsibilities outside of UX design.
BEFORE REDESIGN
- Generic branding
- Only rely on word of mouth to advertise the business
- Don’t have a website
- Lack of brand awareness
- Don’t have an online presence
- Generic branding
- Only rely on word of mouth to advertise the business
- Don’t have a website
- Lack of brand awareness
- Don’t have an online presence
PREVIOUS WEBSITE DESKTOP AND INNER PAGE
THE APPROACH
Research Methods
Customer interviews, Market research analysis and prototype testing.
Customer interviews, Market research analysis and prototype testing.
Understanding customers
Some of the major pain points came from couples not being able to picture their wedding at this venue because they couldn’t see what the venue looks like. The new site coming soon landing has been live for 2 years. Potential customers had to rely on word-of-mouth to give them an inside look at the venue. The main discovery was that couples want to feel comfortable that the venue they choose can provide them with the memories they’re dreaming of.
Some of the major pain points came from couples not being able to picture their wedding at this venue because they couldn’t see what the venue looks like. The new site coming soon landing has been live for 2 years. Potential customers had to rely on word-of-mouth to give them an inside look at the venue. The main discovery was that couples want to feel comfortable that the venue they choose can provide them with the memories they’re dreaming of.
Competitors
I reviewed the competitor’s websites to understand how they communicate, what they offer and what makes them unique.
I reviewed the competitor’s websites to understand how they communicate, what they offer and what makes them unique.
Gathering Information, references and mood board
After talking with some previous customers and stakeholders, I came up with a concept that not only belongs to the wedding industry but also helps them to position their location as a plus. The Emerald, a hidden gem venue in Thomastown. I also created a mood board with references that helped me to sell the website and brand development to Monika and Natasha without wireframing or designing.
After talking with some previous customers and stakeholders, I came up with a concept that not only belongs to the wedding industry but also helps them to position their location as a plus. The Emerald, a hidden gem venue in Thomastown. I also created a mood board with references that helped me to sell the website and brand development to Monika and Natasha without wireframing or designing.
Wireframes and prototypes
I created wireframes to plan and organised the information on every page and started building some early designs. I also provide Monika and Natasha with the steps required to make the brand grow that were outside of my scope. We decided to start by producing an MVP while the rest of the assets were being collected in the background.
I created wireframes to plan and organised the information on every page and started building some early designs. I also provide Monika and Natasha with the steps required to make the brand grow that were outside of my scope. We decided to start by producing an MVP while the rest of the assets were being collected in the background.
WIREFRAMES
SITEMAP
FINAL RESULTS
I developed a design system in Figma to keep everything consistent. After the high-fidelity prototypes were approved, I built the website using WordPress and Elementor.
REDESIGNED WEBSITE DESKTOP AND MOBILE VIEW
GRIDS
STYLE GUIDE
COLOR SYSTEM
BRANDING
LOGO DESIGN PROCESS
SKETCHES
LOGO APPLICATIONS
SOCIAL MEDIA
Business Card
Moodboard -Recommended Brand photography
CONCLUSION
Project in development. The venue is breathtaking, the service is spectacular and now they have branding and a website that reflects it.
From the research, we concluded that the right way to attract more couples and secure bookings is by having photographs of real weddings at the venue. Couples want to see examples of what their wedding could look like and how some spaces of the venue are used. The Emerald is now working with photographers in collecting photos with natural light, different styles of weddings, daytime and nighttime, table and seating layouts and other ceremony options.
LEARNINGS
There are many popular wedding venues in Melbourne and now The Emerald has a specific offering that makes this venue special. Typically, weddings take place in the evenings and on the weekends, however, the place can be used for other purposes besides weddings on weekdays. In the near future, the venue will be offered for business conferences and other social events. It might be required to create different landing pages and content targeting new personas.
