Project Overview
Sculptform’s wall and ceiling systems are an architect’s dream. We brought those dreams to life with a website worthy of the company’s sparkling reputation. One click through Sculptform’s portfolio and we guarantee you’ll never look at walls and ceilings the same again.
Architects across Australia have flocked to the Bendigo-based business for years, and for good reason: their products are as easy on the eyes as they are innovative.
When it comes to Sculptform’s reputation as an architectural product manufacturer, the writing is on the wall: the team consistently delivers exceptional customer service and their products offer the freedom and flexibility for virtually unlimited creative vision.
However, this reputation did not come across on their previous website. A confusing site structure, unnecessary gating, and ambiguous sales messaging that was not reflective of a business expanding its footprint across Australian and international markets.
Ready for a change, Sculptform shed its former moniker, Woodform Architectural, and enlisted us to reimagine their web presence.
Project Commissioner
Woodform Architectural Pty Ltd trading as Sculptform
Project Creator
Team
Flavio Argemi - Creative Director
Jon Low - Technical Director
Dylan Reeves - Senior Web Developer
Brenton Cannizzaro - Strategy Director
Project Brief
Our brief was simple: design and build an inspiring website that gives architects and builders everything they need to realise their creative vision… and nothing they don’t.
Specifically, the brief was to develop a new marketing website for Sculptform to replace the existing Woodform Architectural website, and in doing so present a powerful and cohesive marketing presentation for the Sculptform product range.
Key aspects included:
• New Information Architecture that organises and provides more intuitive access to information, and funnels users directly into the Sculptform web application.
• New website design that reflects the brand characteristics of Sculptform to deliver a clean, uncluttered interface that is striking and inspiring to use, and in doing so appeals powerfully to the core audience of Tier 1 architects through providing a productive experience that is a joy to use.
• Improved Search experience.
• Integration of the presently external ‘Installers’ website to provide a more cohesive user experience, reduced 3rd party site costs, and ease of maintenance.
• Development within the CMS to allow Sculptform staff ease of content maintenance.
Project Innovation/Need
Architects are notoriously time poor and often work late into the night, so we knew a complete online business solution that gives the goods without hassle was a must.
The following aspects were integrated to solve the above need.
Search:
The website incorporates an advanced Search solution utilising the Algolia platform to provide extremely fast search results. The search experience is further enhanced by including filtering and predictive text that allows users to quickly and easily find website content.
Case Study application with filtering:
A case study application was developed that dynamically displays all case studies within an Index template equipped with category filtering.
Downloads application with filtering:
A downloads application was developed that dynamically displays all downloadable file types within an Index template equipped with category filtering.
Editorial based content presentation:
A new blog was designed that presents industry leading information on the benefits of Sculptform products. This content was designed in an editorial magazine format to purposely engage Tier 1 Architects and provide a tangible reason to constantly return to the website to stay abreast with latest information and design inspiration.
Design Challenge
Although technically Sculptform is a manufacturing company, we all agreed the website—and the brand—should feel more architectural than industrial.
We took care not to over-design the design (yes, that’s a thing), giving the site a clean, simple, and elevated look.
The websites content is also a large mix of inspiring architectural designs that use Sculptform products, as well as deep technical information focusing on engineering and material specifications, as well as installation procedures and instructions. Accordingly a visual design direction was required that allowed cohesive presentation of contrasting content types, whilst at all times being intuitive and engaging.
Sculptform staff, who manage all of the website content within the WordPress CMS, also needed flexible templates that allow them to create new pages of different content types, lengths and complexity.
Thanks to Sculptform’s team of hard-working ‘ambassadors for beautiful architecture,’ the project was a heap of fun. We tackled everything from business objectives to brand messaging, personas, user mapping… all the stuff us digital geeks go ga-ga for.
User Experience
Today, the Sculptform site celebrates its products’ originality and creative possibility. Technical information, applications, and installation details are all easily accessible via an anchored menu, with high quality photography front and centre.
Architects on the hunt for design inspiration can now easily filter projects by product, material, application, sector, species, or finish.
We also gave careful consideration to the site’s backend. From installation information to technical specifications, Sculptform staff deal with complex information on the daily; to lessen the load, we put as much thought into the user experience for employees as we did prospective customers.
Sculptform is a known and respected thought leader in the architectural space—seriously, these guys know their stuff. We buffed up the blog to resemble an architect digest, each entry its own feature editorial.
Finally, because Sculptform pride themselves on end-to-end service, they’re particular about installation to ensure the product and the design are accurately brought to life. Incorporating an installers directory allowed for quick filtering between certified installers, giving local businesses some much-appreciated visibility in front of an architectural audience.
Digital - Corporate
This award celebrates innovation and creativity in design of a unique user experience in the combination of text, audio, still images, animation, video, and interactivity content for websites. Consideration given to clarity of communication and the matching information style to audience.
More Details