Anglican Deaconess Ministries—Brand, identity and website
Marrying two older websites into one holistic solution offering increased functionality, ease of use and a fresh new visual identity.
Project overview
SERVICES
ENGAGED
Creative/ strategy
- Concept
- Strategy
Design
- Brand
- Web/ UI
Digital
- Analytics
- Code
- E-commerce
- SEO
- Wireframing
- WordPress
Management
- Implementation
- Web Maintenance
PROJECT
MODULES
Logo and brand guidelines
Website planning and SEO research
Website content writing
Building website visuals and pages
Building eCommerce functionality
Finishing, deployment and testing
OUTPUT AND
DELIVERABLES
-
BrandmarkLogo files output in various colours, variations and file formats.
-
Brand guidelinesPDF document providing staff guidance for logo usage, typography, colour, imagery and collateral uses.
-
Content migrationTransfer of all historical orders, products, newsletter subscribers and articles from the two old websites to the new website.
-
eCommerce websiteContent, design and build in WordPress including WooCommerce, Stripe integration and Mailchimp integration.
The client
ABOUT
The Mental Health & Pastoral Care Institute aims to provide wellbeing resources which are both biblically and psychologically informed.
With lcdc overseeing branding and website development, Keith and Sarah Condie launched the first website to promote their course Building a Safe & Strong Marriage in 2018.
Following the incredible popularity of their first venture, MH+PC also developed a second website in-house for their mental health course Press On in 2019. The two websites for each course served adequately enough when they were first created.
Challenges
The visual and structural rifts between MH+PC's two websites began to pose increasing challenges as their customers grew over time.
Being entirely focussed around their individual courses, the disconnected look and feel of each website could not communicate to visitors that both courses were from one cohesive Institute. And the incompatibility of the two websites was not just superficial. The first site had been built in WordPress, while the second in-house site was in Squarespace. A great deal of the power and flexibility which MH+PC staff had enjoyed in the backend of WordPress was sorely missing on their Squarespace website. Cross-selling opportunities were also being hampered by having to manage two sets of customers on incompatible platforms.
MH+PC approached the lcdc team once more. Their new goal was to create a brand and website which made all information about their organisation and the courses easily accessible in one place.
Solution
We held an initial meeting with MH+PC to discuss and determine the details of what they required. We created a comprehensive proposal which detailed all steps of the project, from initial brand development to ongoing campaign support.
Master brand
More than just a logo, branding has a great influence on the way companies are perceived. MH+PC received a new cohesive brand that would help them leave a positive and memorable impression of a company with visitors. The brand assets were inspired by existing elements of the feature courses as well as the style of Mary Andrews College and Anglican Deaconess Ministries.
Content and SEO
Before building the website, it was necessary to do keyword research on competitors in the market, determine the page structure of the website. Alongside the MH+PC team we also began and reviewing and updating all written content to be included in the website, so that it would be more effective from a UX and SEO perspective. Collaboration on the text of the website was achieved through Google Docs.
Website
The Mental Health and Pastoral Care Squarespace website was to be rebuilt in the WordPress, using the existing Building Marriage site as a starting point. The WooCommerce store which was already set up on Building Marriage was expanded to include Press On products. The theme of the website was rebuilt with a new drag and drop editor to allow easy editing by the client.
Our first deliverable was a new visual language to unify the Institute and its courses.
At the core of the brand the Institute wished to communicate was the concept of humans ‘flourishing’ through life, expressed by plant symbols and the colour green. Continuing this idea, the new colour palette is inspired by previous colours from both websites, but also combines and updates them in a new way.
Our new logo is a bold yet simple representation of the Institute. We abbreviated the name down to MH+PC for ease of use and legibility. The letterforms create a recognisable symbol of their own, including a greenery motif and a subtle nod to the Cross. The logo has long and short variations for flexible use across different applications.
The common use of handwritten fonts, modern line icons, and limited colours brought the two course logos in line with each other.
CLIENT TESTIMONIAL
What beautiful work!
We love the fresh, creative new look you have developed.
—Sarah Condie, Co-Director—Mental Health & Pastoral Care Institute
After a visual framework had been established, it was time to begin constructing the website.
Website planning and SEO research
Work on the website component of this project began with defining the website’s new navigation structure.
Over meetings and email discussions with the client, we examined all the different pages which had existed on the two old websites. By deciding on what pages were still relevant and excluding what was no longer useful, we narrowed down a plan for the new website’s navigation.
We also conducted SEO research on MH+PC’s competitors and used this information to determine a direction for our new site’s keywords.
Website content writing
All of the text content from the previous website was collected and placed in Google Docs. This allowed MH+PC staff to work closely together with us, editing text and bringing in new contributions to page content all in real time. The ability to have the most up to date version of all content in one place minimised errors and ensured everyone involved in the project was always on the same page.
Collaboration on this document continued until the end of the website building process.
Building website visuals and pages
To build the visuals and layout of the website, we worked in clear steps, page by page. During each step of construction MH+PC was frequently provided the chance to view progress and give us feedback, which ensured we were always aligned with their goals and preferences.
We went through the existing structure of the old website and reorganised it, expanding it with many new features such as searching and filtering for better user experience. The Resources library, which used to be one extremely long page, was split into additional topic pages to let visitors find articles relevant to them with far greater ease.
Building ecommerce functionality
We decided upon a new layout which would make information easier to access than in the old store. Smaller images allow for many products to be more easily navigated, and descriptions of products are displayed upfront. The store also contains links to the full information pages for each course so that visitors can quickly understand the courses, no matter which page was the first on they arrived at.
Working with MH+PC staff, we ensured all necessary information for the 16 products was accurate and in a consistent writing style. Copy was reviewed by both parties in Google Docs before being added to the website.
Finishing, deployment and testing
After finalising all content, we went through the website and implemented the remaining functionality, including responsive behaviour for tablet and mobile devices, as well as connection with the client’s Stripe, Amazon S3 storage and Mailchimp accounts.
At last the entire website was packaged from our staging environment and moved to the live domain. All contact forms and store functions were tested. Redirects for the old webpages were set up, pointing returning customers to the new website.
49
pages
65
articles
719
orders
16
products
CLIENT TESTIMONIAL
Thank you from us for all the beautiful work you did to create our new website. It is looking beautiful. We are delighted and excited. You have made this project so seamless and effortless. But I do know that you worked so hard behind the scenes.
—Keith Condie
Director—Mental Health & Pastoral Care Institute
Outcome
The result was a website with an incredible reception among staff members and the general public.
The fully tailor-made design of the new website lets MH+PC make a bold and modern statement which stands out from competitors in their category. Customers can now access all information about MH+PC and their courses in one easy place.
Records of customer’s subscriptions and orders have been brought together, so that the staff no longer constantly have to manage two separate systems on two different platforms.
The highly flexible WordPress backend is far easier for staff to utilise. They can now enjoy the capability to make edits and publish new website content which is just as professional looking as the existing pages we have built for them. The new option to build effectively in-house rather than always having to rely on an external design team is a cost-effective solution for MH+PC which will also increase the longevity of their website design.
6x
Traffic compared to the old website over a similar period
140%
orders compared to the old website over a similar period
CLIENT TESTIMONIAL
I love what lcdc have done for the MHPCI!
The new logo and website are perfect and Sarah has been telling me how wonderful you were to work with – that you were so good at listening to what they needed, and at asking questions when something wasn’t clear. Essential qualities in a good designer.
—Bonnie Rozorio
Communications Manager—Mental Health & Pastoral Care Institute
