case

About the client

Agapium is a luxurious brand of women's wear by a stylist named Olga Agapitova. The brand strives to help women express their femininity and magnetism.

The brand approached us to develop a full-scale mono-brand e-commerce platform. And it was to be easy to use on mobile devices. We set on going through several launch stages by gradually adding more features.

Market research

The work started with analyses of competition and trends. We hand-picked reference visuals and put together the features to help differentiate the brand from its competitors. We were looking for minimalistic practices but still were leaving some space to express the brand's idea.

Extending the design

The work was based on two inputs: an existing brand identity and a brand description. (We've elaborated on the visible) part of the brand's online self-presentation to find the closest match with its values. 

We've extended the identity through visual solutions on the website. Among others, we used a font pair of Lab Grotesque и Grand Gothic to highlight the uncompromising quality and luxury of clothes.

Minimalistic design becomes a background to the important thing — the clothing items — and doesn't steal all the attention. A new collection with any underlying philosophy would look appropriate here.

Design concept

The concept is based on lines and color blocks. The website's full of 'physical' metaphors: curtains that pull up like the ones in a dressing room, photos and polaroids scroll vertically (as opposed to the horizontal scroll on desktop websites of the competitors), and reminders of magazine layouts. The concept renders well on the responsive version as well. As the collections are limited, users move from section to section as if they were getting a glimpse of a room full of secrets.

The brand's primary value — uncompromising quality — is reflected on the website through swift animations and clean-looking layouts on devices of any resolution. 

Scroll

The presentation of the items is eye-catching from the first moment of interaction. The photos' animation is linked to the scroll, so users can look closely at the clothes while moving through the page. Showing one item on the screen at a time highlights its singularity and raises its value for users.

Scroll-linked animations are used throughout the website — on pages of the brand, of collections, and even in the footer. Scroll triggers the animation of the elements: photos fly to the sides, the background changes color, and sections interchange.

Adjustable catalog

Users can adjust the catalog. Apart from choosing the relevant filters, they can select the layout — how many product previews they want to see on the screen. By dragging the slider, users can switch between three layout options with a smooth transition, thanks to the hide effect animation. 

By hovering the cursor over a product preview, users can see the sizes available and add a product to their favorites, which significantly eases and speeds up the overall shopping experience.

Ensuring quality

The project team included a designer who's competent in the fashion industry to ease the communication with the client and match their expectations.

Apart from working on the website, we aided the client in expanding the brand's identity by putting together mood boards for packaging and future photo content. To find strong associations, we used archetypes. The client extensively used our references and invited us to participate in the photo shoot.

Customer Portal

Signing up and logging into the customer portal is as easy as it gets — the user only needs their phone number to enter using the passcode they receive through an SMS—no need to remember logins and passwords. 

The customer portal stores data for the convenience of first and subsequent orders. Here users can access their favorites and store addresses, as products can be purchased and packaged as gifts.

As the result

We helped the brand get online, find customers across the country and build communication with them comfortably. Thanks to the design that aligns with the brand's positioning, the website attracts its target audience and fulfills its primary purpose of selling.