Established in 1991, Sydney
Diamante & Dance Supplies is a retailer of merchandise suitable
for use by professional dancers, gymnasts and entertainers.
While SDDS' main product are swarovski rhinestones, they also
stock acrylics, pearls, trimmings, ballroom attire, dresses,
jewellery and a variety of other goods. Further to this SDDS
offers a dress decorating service, dancesport coaching as well
as a latin dance show!
The
Brief:
Sydney Diamante contracted
Cyrius to create an online presence for the company that would
allow users to search through product lists, features, colour
charts and photos as well as find out information about the
range of products and services they offer. Regarding the visual
content, the site was to look fun and colourful, keeping in
theme with the diamante look.
The Solution:
The first step in this
job was to create a look for SDDS. We were given examples
of older printed materials but were dismayed to find no consistent
thread of either look or quality. Thus we started from scratch
creating a logo, colour theme and identity. The look we came
up with used a lot of sparkles (using animated GIFs and Flash)
as well as a logo that sat on black to achieve the right contrast.
We used a bright blue for the main site as well as a large
amount of photos to add colour and fun to the site.
Once we were settled
on a look, we created a Flash intro to capture the audiences
interest, and then began the arduous task to sorting through
the material. We then architected a navigation system that
categorized items in a way that was clear and usable.
The End Result:
Within days of launch
of the site SDDS began acquiring their first web-based customers
and have gone on to generate a healthy online business!