The brief
Inspire Makers was a completely new venture when I became involved, with the physical shop yet to open. I was recommended to the owner by an existing client.
A strong visual identity was already in place, although some elements needed refining for digital use. The website needed to launch alongside the new Falmouth shop and support a much broader idea than conventional retail — bringing together independent makers, their work and stories, workshops and a growing creative community.
The structure was developed collaboratively. The client had a strong vision for what Inspire Makers could become, and together we worked out how the different strands of the business could sit comfortably within one digital home.
The work
I designed the website and worked with a specialist developer to build the templates, before populating the site myself.
The existing brand provided a strong starting point. Its established colour palette was retained, while the graphic patterns were extended and developed into a flexible visual system that could distinguish different sections without losing the overall identity.
The site needed to work simultaneously as an online shop, maker directory and content platform. Products from numerous disciplines sit alongside individual maker profiles, workshops, exhibitions and editorial content, so the challenge was to give very different types of information a consistent structure without making the experience feel overly complex.
As Inspire Makers developed, the website grew with it. New makers joined, new sections were introduced and the range of content expanded, including the owner’s Article Studio, so flexibility became an increasingly important part of the design.
The project was highly collaborative, working closely with the owner throughout. Her enthusiasm and energy continually pushed the business forward, and the website evolved alongside it.
The outcome
The website gave Inspire Makers a complete digital presence from the launch of the business and created a framework flexible enough to grow alongside it.
The client now manages the website herself, giving her day-to-day control over products, content and the different areas of the business as they continue to evolve. Today, the site showcases the work of over 60 Cornish artists and makers alongside workshops, exhibitions, editorial content and e-commerce.
Several years after the original project, the underlying design still feels current and recognisably Inspire Makers.