KOCHERGEN FARMS COMPOSTING

DURATION

ONE MONTH

Situation

The company is going through a transition period and is looking to move forward digitally. The company needs a new website and a way to get the word out about their site while boosting business.

Task

Make it easier for individuals and customers to find key information about the business and composting in general. All the while stimulating business.

Action

Design and launch a website with clear pathways and information architecture allowing the customers to find what they need. Begin a campaign shuttling people to website via nostalgic postcard.

Tools USED

Desktop

To begin the process of creating a website I had to assess what they already had. Their brand had a logo and color scheme but no consistent font. I chose Poppins for its old timey feel and more importantly that it was a standard font that would appear on the majority of browsers. For colors I used the 30-60-10 rule and accented the black and white website with their brand color.

Mobile

The preliminary version of their site was not mobile friendly, given that the intention of the campaign was to shuttle people to the mobile site via a QR code, the website needed to be optimized. The information architecture paired with the design is simple and easily leghible. Aside from putting a banner atop the page with a quick link to call the contact form sits just a click away on the bottom of the page.

Postcard

The first version of the postcard I created, although was useful and archived for later use, was not fulfilling the potential the postcard could have…

The idea of a business postcard should be:

In order to drum up feelings of nostalgia and heritage for Americas breadbasket farmers I dove into old agriculture posters and decide to focus on the truck that delivers the compost. The sketching process is below.

“let’s create a piece of art that people want to hang up in there office or on their fridge, something that has a link to our website.”

  • Rapid Ideation Sketch

    One of several quick sketched out ideas. The concept reflects the natural beauty of agriculture through use of long shadows.

  • Developed Sketch

    Working loosely with digital tools I colorized the sketch and emphasized certain elements. It was at this point that I received feedback from the client.

  • Digitized design

    The next step was creating the digital painting. All the while experimenting with typography and layout. The base was there, however, the colors were to bright and image too perfect to be feel vintage. Also typography was poor.

  • Final Design

    The final details were added and refined. The fonts were chosen and customized to feel western and hand painted. The Kochergen Farms logo was placed on a lightened truck as per the request of the client. With contact info and all certifications cleanly placed on the bottom.

Results

The first round of the postcard has been sent out to 500 houses as a trial run.

The website received +144% visitors, -23% bounce rate, and received 48 requests for quotes.

Newspaper Ad

The company liked the postcard so much that they decided they would like to alter it to be newspaper ad in the Fresno Bee, as well. Here, knowing the printing process wouldn’t be as exact I emphasized the rustic effects on the painting and altered the layout to fit within the papers ad space dimensions adding key information to the front.

Business Cards & Apparel

The chopped fruit adorning the side of the painting was useful when asked to ideate a new business card. The fruit fits perfectly with the previous company logo and is now used as a brand asset.