It’s a new year, which means reflecting on all the projects I completed last year and the many amazing clients I had the pleasure of working worth. With Portfolio Day coming up this week, I thought it would be fun to highlight some of my favorite BigCommerce website projects, not just from 2021, but from the past few years.
Cornucopia Popcorn Custom Website Design
First up is Cornucopia Popcorn, which was of course fun because of the products! Who knew that someone could make so many amazing flavors of popcorn? Cornucopia Popcorn was also one of my favorite projects because it’s the epitome of a true local business. Based in Austin, TX, it’s clear just from reading their reviews that Cornucopia Popcorn is a beloved member of their community. They also give back with donations and sponsorships to local nonprofits.
In terms of the design, the Cornucopia website features a bright color palette that we used to draw attention to key buttons, headings and graphical elements. The sticky header shrinks when you scroll down, even the multi-color band that runs through their logo. For some reason, watching it get bigger and smaller always makes me smile! We also utilized BigCommerce’s custom fields feature to highlight important ingredient notes for each product, such as gluten-free, vegan and nuts.
Woodlore Custom Redesign
I’ve been working with the team at Woodlore for quite a few years now, and their current custom BigCommerce theme is the second one I’ve built for them. Even though they’re part of the publicly-traded Caleres company, Woodlore’s team still has the feel of a small business. They’re very customer-focused and passionate about their products, most of which are designed using USA grown cedar.
Collaborating with their marketing consultant, we gave the website a more upscale design featuring oversized photography, new fonts, bold headlines and more accessible content about the benefits of cedar. The end result was a much more modern looking website that really highlights the beauty and advantages of their products. If you want to keep those favorite shoes in like-new condition, I highly recommend their Combination Shoe Trees for men and women!
Marc Defang Theme Customization
Unlike the previous two websites, Marc Defang’s new design utilizes a stock theme rather than a custom one built on Cornerstone. We chose the Covent Garden theme because of its flexible layout options and built-in merchandising features, then customized the header to overlap the homepage carousel among other changes. The end result was a high-end design that showcases Marc Defang’s gorgeous special occasion shoes, handbags and apparel.
I love working with Marc because he’s a great example of a small business that competes with the big players. His passion for design and his strong connections to the pageant community has truly made him a brand to watch.
Patricia Shoppe Migration & Custom Theme
Occasionally I work with clients who bring their own designers and mockups. Patricia Shoppe was one of those projects. Owner Erin had a website design in mind and we worked together to bring it to life as part of her BigCommerce migration. As the e-commerce arm of Patricia Shoppe’s Ann Arbor, Michigan boutique, it was important to maintain the store’s personality, just in online form.
The custom design includes oversized product images and classic background images reminiscent of the original Chicago Patricia Shoppe owned by Erin’s great-grandmother. We utilized the BigCommerce Page Builder to build the custom homepage layout so that images can easily be changed seasonally or to highlight new apparel and accessories. Working with another designer or a client with strong design ideas can sometimes require compromises, but it’s always a great learning experience for me. I think the final design came out beautiful!