Web Design Process at Branding Hatch

Web Design Process at Branding Hatch

At Branding Hatch, we only create custom web designs. While there are off-the-shelf templates and do-it-yourself website builders, they are often very limited in their functionality not to mention the customizability, and some of them come with features not needed, causing bloated code and slow load speeds.

Below is a case study for White Oak Interiors.

Goal Identification

Before coming up with a solution, we must set goals first. What is the purpose of the website? What goal or goals does the user have? And what goal or goals does the business have? Once we define the scope of the projects, we can fine tune the structure, pages and the content of the website to fulfill these goals.

Some of the questions we ask are:

  • Who is the site for?
  • What is the nature of your company or corporation?
  • What is its core business?
  • Who are your customers? Where are they?
  • Are your products/services aimed at a particular sex/age/income range/group?
  • What does it need to do?

Wireframing & Sitemap Creation

Wireframes are great tools for sketching and exploring design ideas, as well as communicating those ideas to colleagues, clients, and stakeholders.

We employ a Low-Fidelity wireframe approach that allows us to focus on solving problems and serving needs. So we avoid wasting time on aesthetics and layout in the early phases of the design process. Our philosophy is content first.

Sitemap

A sitemap is essentially an outline of the structure of the pages that will comprise the website. Planning the sitemap prior to working on any website design. It helps to have a clear idea of the website’s information architecture and explains the relationships between the various pages and content elements. Also, Sitemaps are important for SEO because they make it easier for Google to find your site’s pages—this is important because Google ranks web PAGES not just websites.

DESIGN PROCESS

At Branding Hatch, we only create custom web designs. While there are off-the-shelf templates and do-it-yourself website builders, they are often very limited in their functionality not to mention the customizability, and some of them come with features not needed, causing bloated code and slow load speeds.

Our CMS of choice is WordPress which powers 37% of all the websites on the planet. It’s free and open source and have its vast ecosystem along with plugins that provides endless functionality.

Mobile Friendly Design
Responsive Design

At Branding Hatch, every website we design is mobile friendly. With smartphone and tablet sales far exceeding desktop, small screens ought to be considered from the beginning of the web design process. Page layouts, navigations, text size, images and photos all need to be optimized for smaller screens and mobile devices that may have a slower bandwidth.

DEVELOPMENT

The developmental stage is the point where the web site itself is created. Our CMS of choice is WordPress. Elements such as interactive contact forms, calendars, events, galleries or eCommerce are implemented and made functional during this phase.

On the technical front, a successful web site requires writing valid HTML & CSS code that complies to current web standards, maximizing functionality. At Branding Hatch, we have the expertise to get under the code and customize the layout and enhance the functionality that may otherwise not be available through the front end.

Our CMS of choice is WordPress which powers 30% of all the websites on the planet. It’s free and open source and have its vast ecosystem along with plugins that provides endless functionality.

TESTING

Once the site has all its visuals and content, we are now ready to test the website. With increasing variety in technology and the devices available to view a website, we test everything internally, and allow the client an opportunity to test the site fully before launch..

LAUNCH

When everything has been thoroughly tested, it’s time to launch. Depending on the project this may involve setting up the server, going live or replacing the staging website with the actual website. After the launch, we still continue to monitor the website for a few months and make sure the website works the way it should.

A Branding Design Process for Businesses and Nonprofits

A Branding Design Process for Businesses and Nonprofits

At Branding Hatch, We apply collaborative methods to deliver brand strategies and experiences across all mediums. We never start with a cart blanche and always involve the client, virtually with each step. We listen, learn and understand our clients to create beautifully simple, meaningful and useful solutions.

Below is a case study for White Oak Interiors.

Design Brief

We work closely with our clients to create a design brief that clearly outlines the scope of the project, deliverables, timing and the budget.

Research & Discovery

We spend ample to time learn about or clients, their business goals, target markets, competitors and their challenges.

Brainstorm, Develop Concepts & Moodboarding

After the initial research, we develop a few key concepts and visual elements. This may include typeface usage as the voice of the brand, color schemes, visual styles, icons, photography styles and more, to establish the look and feel of the brand. We present a moodboard to ensure all parties are on the same page, to gather feedback and to have a clear direction.

Initial moodboard for White Oak Interiors branding.

Retain a Concept to Further Develop

We explore different concepts and directions during the brainstorming process, we retain the best visual design and solution that captures the essence of our client’s brand and works across all mediums. From our experience, this is the best approach that allows us to come up with the best solution early on and not waste time on weaker, lesser options.

Final Delivery

Alongside a logo, there are several other visual elements that make up a brand and together they create the visual identity. Visual identity design will determine what these elements look like, and how they are used and applied across all of the touch points.

LOGOS

Secondary Logo

Stacked version. To be used in for limited spaces. Or for square shaped spaces such as profile pictures for Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Favicon

Favicon can be used as a profile pciture

COLORS

Typography

Icon Development

Residential Design

 

Furniture & Accessories

 

Commercial Deign

 

Barrier Free Design

 

Window Treatments

 

Onsite Consultation

 

PHOTOGRAPHY/IMAGES

BRANDING GUIDELINES

Starting a Branding Agency in Milwaukee

Starting a Branding Agency in Milwaukee

Image Credit: Library Of Congress. Panorama map of Milwaukee, with a view of the City Hall tower, c. 1898

LETTER FROM TROY U. YILMAZ

With the pandemic raging, it’s been mostly bad news. The virus seems to suck the oxygen out of everything. Nevertheless, exciting thing are happening at Branding Hatch, and I wanted to share some important news. Fueled by the business growth, I’ve decided to relocate to Milwaukee, Wisconsin last month. After almost a wonderful year in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, the move to Milwaukee was only natural and strategic. We simply wanted to be near a thriving, vibrant art and design community, while taking advantage of amenities that a major metropolitan area offered.

Below are a few shots from a visit to Milwaukee

I always lived in large cities including Istanbul, Miami and Chicago. With getting older and wiser, comes the longing for tranquility. After over a decade in Chicago, I wanted to be in a quieter, simpler environment. Lake Geneva seemed to offer that perfectly. Fueled by the business growth, however, I needed to be near a major city. Milwaukee was never on top of my list for places to move. While living in Lake Geneva, I visited Milwaukee often and quickly fell in love with it. I like its central location, just an hour away from Chicago and Madison. It’s home to 600,000 people, so it’s large enough to be a major metropolitan area but small enough not to be bogged down with traffic and congestion. It’s also on the beautiful Lake Michigan. Yes the winters are brutal but after over a decade in Chicago, I’m used to it.

The name “Milwaukee” comes from an Algonquian word millioke, meaning “good,” “beautiful” and “pleasant land.” Milwaukee is a vibrant city with a thriving and sophisticated metropolis of over one million people. Milwaukee is also home to some of the top branding agencies, rivaling Chicago and New York.

I’m looking forward to working and living in Milwaukee and becoming a true Wisconsinite.

CAPABILITIES

Branding Hatch is a design and marketing agency specializing in branding and corporate identity. We create beautiful, meaningful and useful brands. We are comfortable designing in all mediums, including web, digital and print. Our work encompasses a diverse clientele, both large and small businesses, startups, solopreneurs and nonprofits.

Some of our core services include:

Graphic Design Services in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Graphic Design Services in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Branding Hatch became a member at Lake Geneva Chamber Of Commerce in November 2019. The Chamber also functions as a Visitors Bureau. Lake Geneva, unlike a small resort town, has a thriving business community besides hotels and restaurants, home to many small businesses. to The Chamber acts as the united voice on behalf of the business community within the Geneva Lake area to encourage, stimulate and promote economic development, expansion and diversification.

Shortly after becoming a member, Branding Hatch was commissioned to design the Scorecard, a year in review for Visit Lake Geneva. The brochure is distributed to members and visitors alike. It’s published both as a printed collateral and as a PDF to work on digital mediums.

The Chamber had implemented a rebranding recently with guidelines for how to use typefaces, color schemes, logo variations and a few visual elements that were rarely featured. We don’t get to do a lot of graphic design and print projects lately, and this was such an exciting and wonderful project to work on. As a graphic design agency, we felt honored to be chosen among other agencies that submitted design bids for the project.  

Since this booklet was to be distributed to members and visitors alike, it needed to reflect Lake Geneva’s sophisticated beauty on its design, and its cover design. We worked with the existing branding guidelines and designed to improve the graphical elements to seamlessly work with the beautiful panoramic Lake Geneva photos.

View the full project here.

Lake Geneva Chamber Of Commerce welcomes Branding Hatch

Lake Geneva Chamber Of Commerce welcomes Branding Hatch

During November partner meeting, Visit Lake Geneva welcomed Branding Hatch.

Founder Troy Yilmaz had a chance to introduce and talk about services such as graphic design, branding, web design & digital marketing including SEO services that we offer.

Partnership meeting was hosted by the Candle Mercantile. Founder Troy Yilmaz was presented with the Visit Lake Geneva Chamber Of Commerce plaque.

Yolk Byte Design is now BRANDING HATCH

Yolk Byte Design is now BRANDING HATCH

We have a new name, “Branding Hatch.” Formerly called Yolk Byte, we renamed the company Branding Hatch. The name signifies our roots in graphic arts, branding and corporate identity.

Our new name, Branding Hatch better reflects our capabilities, and what we do.

Our name change also coincided with our move to beautiful Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. Branding Hatch has a unique central location to serve three major markets, Chicago, Milwaukee and Madison.

We are really excited and looking forward to working with our existing and new clients.