Fernscape Interiors
Transforming Pacific Northwest Interiors: Crafting a Digital Oasis for Nature-Inspired Spaces
Tools: Illustrator | Visual Studio Code | Wix
Industry: Interior Design
Website
September 3, 2024 - October 24, 2024
The challenge
In today’s fast-paced urban environments, both residential and corporate spaces often lack the natural elements that contribute to a healthy and vibrant atmosphere. Sterile interiors can lead to decreased productivity, increased stress levels, and an overall disconnection from nature. Many individuals and businesses desire the benefits of greenery but lack the time, expertise, or resources to properly design and maintain indoor plants.
The outcome
The Fernscape Interiors website successfully delivers a warm, inviting online presence that reflects the brand's values and aesthetic. Early feedback praised the seamless navigation, cohesive design, and engaging visuals. Visitors noted that the site felt like “walking into a modern jungle oasis.”
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This project showcases how thoughtful design can translate a brand’s identity into a digital space. From the lush greens of the color palette to the approachable charm of Quicksand typography, every element was curated to create a harmonious, engaging user experience that leaves a lasting impression.
Process work
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The client's existing brand style guide played a crucial role in shaping the design process, providing a clear foundation for color choices, typography, and overall visual direction. By adhering to the established guidelines, the design maintained consistency with the brand’s identity, ensuring the website reflected its core values of modern elegance and natural beauty. This alignment helped create a cohesive user experience, reinforcing brand recognition while allowing for creative expression within the set parameters.
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Low-fidelity wireframes
When designing the wireframes for multiple devices, I started with the smallest screen size (mobile) and scaled up. I created the wireframes using a 1400 x 2800px artboard, ensuring a clean structure by following Gestalt principles of hierarchy and whitespace, with clear navigation suited to mobile platforms.
Color palette
The website bursts with the lively energy of greens, orange, white, and black. The color selection for the Fernscape Interiors website is a breath of fresh air! The shades of green feel like a vibrant hug from nature, evoking growth, renewal, and tranquility—perfect for a brand rooted in plant life. The touches of tangerine add a sophisticated glow, whispering luxury and success without overshadowing the natural vibe. And that elegant black? It’s the grounding element that ties everything together, adding a modern, timeless edge. The palette feels intentional and welcoming, striking just the right balance between earthy warmth and refined charm. It’s a color story that tells visitors, “You’re home.”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Typography
Georgia, a classic serif font, The typography choice is like a friendly handshake—modern, approachable, and effortlessly stylish! Its rounded edges and clean lines give off a playful yet professional vibe, perfectly mirroring the balance between creativity and sophistication in their brand. It feels light and airy, making it easy to read while adding a touch of personality that says, "We're serious about plants, but we know how to have fun too!" It’s a typeface that welcomes visitors with open arms, making them feel right at home in your lush, green world.
Empathize
Research and discovery
The design process began with research into Fernscape's target audience: eco-conscious individuals who appreciate the aesthetic and wellness benefits of indoor plants.
Competitor analysis highlighted the need for a clean and nature-inspired interface, while feedback from potential users emphasized the importance of easy navigation and clear, engaging content.
Ideate
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Layout and features​
The website layout was carefully crafted to provide a seamless user experience, ensuring both functionality and aesthetic appeal. The HTML and CSS code for the site was written in Visual Studio Code, leveraging its powerful extensions and intuitive interface to streamline the design process.​​
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Hero section: Bold, captivating images immediately set the tone for the website, complemented by inviting headings that draw users in. CSS media queries were used to create a sleek, responsive design, ensuring the hero image adapts beautifully to any device.
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Navigation and user journey: The site was designed with intuitive navigation, guiding users seamlessly from discovery to action through clear CTAs (Calls to Action) such as "Explore Plants" or "Buy Now." A sticky navigation bar, styled with lightweight yet visually appealing CSS, ensures users have easy access to key sections of the website at all times.
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Mobile responsiveness: With a mobile-first approach in mind, the design was optimized to be visually stunning and function seamlessly across all devices. CSS media queries were used to adjust the layout for various screen sizes, ensuring both usability and aesthetic appeal on mobile devices.​
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Footer design: The footer was styled with a clean, minimalistic approach, featuring social media icons and a subscription form. Flexbox was used to evenly space the icons, while hover effects were added to enhance interactivity.
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Challenges
One challenge was ensuring the site didn’t feel overcrowded with visual elements, given the abundance of plant imagery. The solution was to embrace white space, letting the content breathe and allowing the natural beauty of the products to shine.
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Disclaimer
Fernscape Interiors is a fictional company created by the innovative team at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) as part of the GRA-310 Digital Graphic Design for the Web course, solely for educational purposes. Any similarities to real businesses are purely coincidental, and the products and services mentioned are fictional too—consider it a delightful oasis of creativity and inspiration!