/** * @article Jackson Coffee Company * * @since April 5, 2010 * @package Website * * */
New online home for the Jackson Coffee Company, the midwest's largest artisan coffee roaster
As part of the Jackson Coffee Company’s move to boost their online presence and grow their developing wholesale business online, I worked on a total overhaul of their website. Reworked the static black-and-white site into something a lot more dynamic and tactile. Brian Surgener, JCC’s owner, has been following the gospel of social media for a long time (he already has his own YouTube channel, mailing list, and a loyal following who are passionate about the business in a way that nobody could be for anything but coffee), so it made sense to give something back to the otaku community with a website that feels as inviting as a hot cup of strong coffee.
God, I love coffee. And believe me, I drank plenty of it trying to get the feel just right for this site.
Part of the challenge was balancing the needs of JCC’s local clientele with the regional wholesale customers they were trying to service with this web redesign. In the end, we ended up dividing screen real estate roughly equally between these two client bases. Hidden throughout the site are free drink coupons to reward the faithful fans who may be browsing the site to see the local store’s entertainment schedule or community event listings; while videos, text explanations, and supporting sites focus on the needs of the coffeehouse or restaurant owner who is their ideal wholesale customer.
The color palette was a no-brainer, but surprisingly enough, their previous site hadn’t even taken that initial step toward communicating the flavors of coffee. Out of all my work on the site, I think I’m most happy with the repeating background. Taken from a picture of freshly roasted beans in Brian’s shop, I tweaked the colors and folded in the swirls of chocolate and mocha until I got something so mouth-watering I could hardly look at it without wanting another sip of coffee. (Did I mention I drank a LOT of coffee working on this project?)
Also… got a chance to play around with the Threadless-inspired “Beautiful Notifications” feature in WP E-Commerce. The graphic pop-ups on adding an item to your cart are a real nice touch, and customizing that notification is easy and impressive.
One last thing… Brian promised me a bag of coffee to speed up my work on the site. It still hasn’t arrived. If anyone’s passing through Jackson, MI, you might want to look into that for me?