The Great British Website

Brand identity and e-commerce platform for high-quality, British produce. The Great British Website brings together the best food and drink from across the British Isles to one online marketplace.

From Welsh Black Mountain Lamb, Orkney Buffalo and Manx Kippers to British curry pastes, traditional jams and a huge array of artisan gins and spirits. The Great British Website celebrates and promotes the best home-grown produce.

Identity

The design team worked closely with founders and ‘devoted foodies’ Tom and Sarah to develop an identity to kick-start the brand launch. The team were looking for an identity that had character and would encapsulate the ‘quintessentially British’ theme. The challenge was to create something that avoided cliches – a strong brand that was flexible enough to sit alongside the numerous, different suppliers.

An illustrative theme runs through the new branding. Although professional, there is nothing corporate or distant about the ethos of The Great British Website – and the bank of crafted illustrations reflects this well.

For example, illustrated diagrams are used to explain how the process works for both a supplier and a visiting customer. It’s a clear and visual way to break down the process and communicate effectively. The cheerful style evokes the sense of personal service – this is not part of a big machine or supermarket franchise. This is a service to connect enthusiasts.  The finishing touches that are part of your delivery pack show the extra care that has gone into your parcel.

The brand colours are soft but distinctive. A primary palette of pastel blue, burnt orange and cream give a slight ‘vintage’ edge and subtly nod to the Union Jack. The ink inspired logo is balanced out by the mechanical, typewriter-esque supporting font. The combination of the two complement the artisan, ‘hand crafted’ skills required with much of the produce for sale.

Austin the Robin perches on the logo – an identifiably British emblem. He often features midflight on the site or promotional material, delivering well-packed parcels across the country. He symbolises the link created by The Great British Website between producer and customer. Watch out for high days and holidays, seasons and celebrations – where Austin can often be spotted getting into the spirit of things!

Ecommerce

Now in it’s 3rd year the e-commerce site has already gone through several transformations. ‘From the start we knew the site would need to be flexible and dynamic to accommodate the shift from startup to fully functioning online marketplace. To begin, the emphasis was promoting the mission and primary objectives to the producers – we needed those guys on-board first so that we had great stuff to sell. Once the suppliers were with us we could begin to focus on the customers – the people who value high-quality, artisan produce.’

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Developing easy-to-use supplier accounts, managing large orders and complex delivery logistics are a few of the considerations faced by the web team. We continue to work closely with the team at The Great British Website and it was vital from the start that we developed a platform that was flexible and would allow for growth.

The store experience is also a major focus. Intuitive and usable have always been top build priorities. More than that we wanted to encourage a great shopping experience that was similar to browsing a farmers market full of enticing produce!