HOMEBASE

Creative Lead. Design. Web.

Website re-platform and digital refresh for national DIY brand

Agency: THG Studios

Updating the Homebase site and migrating on to our own platform was a colossal challenge. Visually, we wanted to update the tired, dated old design, creating a new UX journey and introducing a new digital strategy focussing on inspiration, with several new initiatives brought to life on site. A key concept for the visual approach was the use of photography and making it as immersive and inspirational as we could, encouraging customers with a series of detailed ‘how-to’ guides.

Core web pages

Having to utilise the Homebase core brand elements, including fonts and a huge library of roundels, we were able to introduce large, inspirational photography devised and shot by the content team at THG to perfectly fit the digital environment. Based on a complex site map, we broke down the different levels into 5 core sections; Homepage, Category Landing Pages, Initiative Landing Pages (inspirational/editorial content), Trends Pages and a Home Inspiration Hub. Each of these has a distinct template and visual approach.

There are several components used on site, from simple banners and images to hot spot and slider widgets, this overview helps ensure everything designed adheres to the overall concept and works together to create a cohesive user experience.

Component library

We created a visual style and set of rules for a suite of graphics, supporting the how-to and inspirational content.

View graphic explorations

Creation of a digital toolkit to ensure the internal design and trading teams had the right tools to keep the creative assets consistently high on the site. Also to set out the rules for the client to enable understanding of the thought-processes behind the design and ensure correct briefing, streamlining the process.