Fresh from the field — Think + Shift, Ghost Street/Studio Everyday
This week’s Fresh from the Field features a website redesign for Think + Shift by Ghost Street & Studio Everyday.
If you’ve got new or recent work that you’d like to share in our weekly Fresh from the Field series email Zoë for details.
Overview
Think + Shift are a product and spatial design company. Due to their successes over the last two years, a shift in online communications was required in order to further clarify their services and product offerings. With the launch of their made-to-order products and a growing pool of case studies, they needed a site that functioned both as an online store and portfolio showcase.
The idea for the new website design stems from the word ‘Shift’ exploring the motion and interaction of content shifting in and out of view. The main navigation functions as a three tier tab system, allowing the user to seamlessly shift between sections. Featured Work, Design Archives, and Store are displayed prominently to associate the work on display and the products for sale.
Context and Challenge
James and the Think & Shift team were looking for a standout ‘design-led’ website which showcased their products and projects. The bar for presentation in the spatial design market is high, with a truly innovative approach required to make the website stand out, whilst also staying out of the way and letting the work speak for itself. With their old website running into the limits of the squarespace platform, the new website required the addition of e-commerce functionality with a simple content management system to give the Think + Shift team the independence to update the website into the future.
Process
To accomplish this Ghost Street and Studio Everyday were brought on board to explore presentation and technical solutions for a new website. Through a series of co-designing sessions with the Think + Shift team we explored and prototyped a range of solutions, developing a concept where content layers were treated as physical objects, replicating the ‘shift’ verb in the company name. The final concept and subsequent presentation problem-solving was undertaken by developing a ‘real-world’ prototype system using sheets of paper, which could be moved to show transitions and structural composition and also allowed the client to input direction and ideas around this concept. Once a coded proof of concept of this idea was assembled we were able to further fine-tune interaction and animation of the concept with the client before building out the final website.
Solution
Our final solution realises the paper shifting concept in a digital medium, while also implementing a refreshed brand for Think + Shift. This rebrand underpins the website strategy, presenting a more mature and refined identity that has the confidence to step back and let the work take centre stage. Layouts, animation and easing has been pixel perfected and photography reshot with a consistent creative direction to match the new brand identity. A ‘responsive’ design approach was undertaken to ensure the website displayed correctly across desktop and mobile platforms, and was tested across multiple audiences through the development process, to ensure usability and accessibility were preserved in the final product. The website was launched to critical acclaim in Oct 2017.
Think + Shift Website Credit List
Client: Think + Shift
Studio: Ghost Street, Studio Everyday
Creative Director: Tim Gomez
Design Director: Tim Dawson, Tim Gomez
Development: Jordan Bullivant
