The Farm House Cafe, one of my favorite clients, has had huge success from day one. We worked very closely with them from the start to help develop the brand look and feel. After the logo process, we designed the web site. A fun, interactive site that immerses the user in the rustic, french, and organic style. We shoot all of the photography for them a few times a year so that we can keep the site always feeling fresh and give the user an accurate expectation of what they’ll see when they visit. In this last year, we have made a lot of improvements to the sites overall ease of use and demographic reach.
as the device or user uses a more sophisticated device, the site ‘enhances’ itself
For example many people think that using a flash site limits the range of those who can view it. Enter progressive enhancement. The idea of progressive enhancement is that you provide the most basic content of a web site on a level at which the most limited devices can view it. Then, as the device or user uses a more sophisticated device, the site ‘enhances’ itself. In other words, you can visit the site with an iPhone and view the menu, get directions, even read reviews, but if you come back later with an average ‘normal’ computer, then you’ll see the more enhanced interactive version of the site. The end result is a web site that is both fun for people, useful for getting quick info, and searchable by Google.
Another fun addition was the video section of the site. “Farm House TV” offers users a window into the Farm House kitchen as chef Olivier Bioteau teaches them how to make some of his famous recipes. For this we built a custom video player that not only plays the video and shows the written recipe along with it, but also allows us to add new videos as time goes on.
Well, that is just some of the technical side to one of our most popular sites. As always we want to create the best balance of design and imagery, usability and attainability. Keep checking back, as we always have new features we are working on. And if you have any suggestions, please always feel free to email us as we are very interested in making the experience better and better.