The Brief
Our collaboration with the authentic folks at The Sociable Weaver revealed significant gaps in their existing website as a brand tool, which failed to effectively convey their values, impact, and epic work. The UX and managing and uploading content also proved to be a challenge.
The Solution
We set out to build a beautiful, flexible, and easy-to-manage website that truly reflects The Sociable Weaver’s essence. We thoughtfully applied their existing visual identity and incorporated more content focused on people, impact, process, and sustainable building advice.
The Impact
A holistic understanding of their brand ensures consistency across all channels, clarifying their messaging and tone. Coupled with an easy-to-use CMS, the team can now effortlessly update and add new content to inspire widespread change in sustainable building and design.
Home page view on Mobile. Left: Booyong House, Photography by Marnie Hawson | Right: Nerissa House, Photography by Eve Wilson
Homes project page on Desktop
A refined brand strategy with authenticity at the forefront
Through working with The Sociable Weaver on Content and Channel Strategy, we discovered the audience connects strongly with authentic, behind-the-scenes content, which is rare in the industry focused on aesthetics and form. With this insight, we kicked off the project with a workshop to review the requirements and determine necessary website changes by evaluating what’s currently working and what should stay and change. Our decisions were guided by customer research, including surveys to prospects, clients, and supporters, and discussions with building industry experts. This informed a brand strategy that communicates the brand family, structured into Design (The Sociable Weaver), Develop (Small Giants), and Build (Martin Builders).
Highlights
Setting standards in environmental impact reporting
Reporting on the environmental impact of the design and build for TSW was important. It delivers on their commitment to transparency and allows for greater discussion for the industry and homeowners. While already auditing their projects with independent assessment 'eTool' we worked with the team to bring this information to the fore. Hero-ing it on the Homes project pages and collectively for the business to date.
Illustrations by TSW team. Photograph of The 10 Star Home. Photography by Dan Hocking, Art by Hannah Nowlan
Purposeful visual identity application and content revamp
We revamped The Sociable Weaver’s website by blending their existing strong visual identity with new content that highlights their credentials, impact, work, and personality. Using their logo, colour scheme, and fonts, we brought their value proposition to life, thoughtfully combining design and functionality. Despite impressive certifications, their previous site underplayed these achievements. We developed a content wireframe to define messaging, focusing on sustainable home design and impact tracking. Detailing the homes' impact and showcasing the team, partners, and clients were key. We also clarified the engagement process for clients, which is often a mystery in the industry. Throughout this process, we iteratively collaborated with the team to ensure we hit all the important points.
Homes project on Kazoku. Photography by Marnie Hawson
Enhanced flexibility and performance
The new website now offers high flexibility, allowing team members to easily add and update content as needed. Using an Information Architecture framework, we structured the site to include upgraded and new pages such as homes, impact, journal, news, and education pages. Optimised for mobile, improved SEO, and faster load times, it heroes large beautiful images of their work without compromising SEO thanks to consideration of file sizes. We also provided training to ensure the team could manage updates independently. These considerations has led to better analytics, increased client enquiries, and more subscribers.
Team Harvey are an absolute pleasure to work with. A bunch of really lovely people who care deeply about positive impact and the work they do.
Reece Stubbs
Project Summary
The new brand, content & build has resulted in a significantly faster load speed, an increase in SEO visibility, significant increase in enquiries and newsletter subscribers.
The detailed analytics & backend flexibility has enabled the team to easily optimise the site and publish new content.