Case Study

Many true talents begin as a casual hobby, evolving from pleasure to obsession and, if you're lucky, to a profession. Daniel Kencke is such a talent. Dan was ready to move on from hobbyist to professional and he needed a website that would effectively promote his business and showcase his marvelous work.

Dan wanted a simple, yet elegant site that would convey his professionalism. He also wanted a touch of warmth so the site would be friendly as well. He had established an identity with his business cards and wanted the theme translated to his new website. The theme on his business cards was a casual photo of river rocks. Perhaps you can see the challenge here? How does a website designer make river rocks elegant? And, as with most new entrepreneurs, money was tight. Dan couldn't afford for the website to be fully produced but he was willing to learn. Dan would produce the pages himself from the templates we would create for him.

Dan's photos are clear and sharp, and show best on a black background. Black also conveys the simplicity and elegance he was after. To bridge the requirements of the use of river rocks with that of elegance, a third element was introduced — a simple, browser-like interface that is casual in concept but with clean, elegant lines. The colors of the river rocks blend with the interface resulting in an interesting juxtaposition of roughly-hewn nature with a modern browser. A touch of warmth was added with russet-colored cursive headers that compliment one of the stones in the photo.

The final design met all of Dan's goals — fast-loading, simple, elegant, inviting, and conveys his established branding. Most importantly it serves as a perfect frame for the Daniel Kencke Photography product: Those GORGEOUS photos of his.