QBPN
REBRAND + SHOPIFY THEME SELECTION CASE STUDY
Comprehensive rebrand initiative for QBPN (Quilting Books Patterns and Notions), enhancing their visual identity and website experience. This involved understanding the target audience, then redesigning the logo, creating a new brand guide with updated colors and fonts, and conducting a competitor review to inform the rebrand strategy.
Additionally, I guided the selection and implementation of a new Shopify 2.0 theme, considering Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) best practices and QBPN's unique brand aesthetic. The rebrand efforts and theme selection process culminated in a cohesive and visually appealing website that aligns with QBPN's brand values and enhances user experience, setting the stage for improved customer engagement and conversion rates.
THE PROBLEM
QBPN (Quilting Books Patterns and Notions) is a longstanding brand in the quilting community, renowned for its quality offerings. However, their website faced challenges in effectively catering to their customer base. Upon a thoughtful review, it became evident that the site's color palette lacked cohesion, the logo placement was prominent yet distracting, and font styles weren't optimized for the ease of reading that its esteemed quilters deserved. Recognizing the importance of honoring QBPN's legacy and esteemed clientele, a deep dive into Google Analytics 4 data was essential to ensure that any proposed changes would align seamlessly with the preferences and behaviors of the dedicated audience.
Furthermore, QBPN's Shopify theme had been in use for an extended period without recent updates. Acknowledging the advancements offered by Shopify 2.0 themes and the desire for a refreshed design, QBPN initiated this project to transition from its legacy theme to a more modern and feature-rich Shopify 2.0 theme. However, the client was understandably cautious about losing elements that had proven effective on their legacy theme. Balancing the necessity for a refreshed design with the preservation of successful features posed a unique challenge that required a strategic and thoughtful approach to ensure a seamless transition without compromising the website's functionality or user experience.
MY ROLE
I conducted a comprehensive analysis of QBPN's ideal customer, utilizing its existing Google Analytics 4 data and relevant studies on the quilting community. This deep dive into customer insights allowed me to fully understand QBPN's target audience, including their preferences, behaviors, and expectations when engaging with an online quilting platform. Leveraging this data-driven approach, I identified key areas for improvement on QBPN's website that needed optimization to better resonate with their target demographic. From here, I oversaw the rebranding efforts, which included redesigning the logo, creating a new brand guide with updated colors and fonts, and enhancing the website's visual elements for improved accessibility and engagement.
After completing the brand work, I turned my attention to selecting a new theme that would resonate with the target audience. My responsibilities extended to researching and selecting a suitable Shopify 2.0 theme aligned with QBPN's brand image and incorporating essential features for improved user experience and conversion rate optimization (CRO). Throughout this process, I maintained clear communication with the client, providing regular updates and seeking feedback to ensure alignment with their vision and goals.
CONSTRAINTS
Time Constraints: The project had a limited timeframe of 3 months or 50 total hours for completion, which required efficient planning and execution of tasks within specified deadlines. This time constraint influenced the prioritization of tasks and the need for timely decision-making and client communication throughout the project.
Budget Constraints: The project operated within budget constraints, necessitating efficient resource allocation and cost-effective solutions. This constraint influenced decisions regarding theme selection, customization efforts, and additional features, ensuring financial viability while meeting client expectations.
Legacy Theme Transition: Navigating the transition from QBPN's legacy Shopify theme to a modern Shopify 2.0 theme posed a challenge due to the need to preserve successful elements from the legacy theme while incorporating new features and design elements.
PROCESS OVERVIEW
Client Consultation: Initiated discussions with the client to understand their goals, preferences, and priorities for the project. This included gathering insights on their target audience, existing challenges, and desired outcomes.
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Ideal Customer Analysis: Conducted a comprehensive analysis of QBPN's ideal customer using existing GA4 data and relevant studies on the quilting community. This involved studying user behavior, demographics, and preferences to inform strategic decisions.
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Identify Key Areas for Improvement: Identified key areas for improvement on QBPN's website, focusing on aspects like the color palette, logo placement, and font styles to better resonate with the target demographic. This assessment included usability testing and competitor benchmarking.
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Rebranding Efforts: Oversaw the rebranding efforts, including redesigning the logo, creating a new brand guide with updated colors and fonts, and enhancing visual elements for improved accessibility and engagement. This process involved iterative design revisions based on client feedback.
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Shopify 2.0 Theme Selection: Researched and selected a suitable Shopify 2.0 theme aligned with QBPN's brand image and incorporating essential features for improved user experience and conversion rate optimization (CRO). This included evaluating theme demos, customization options, and scalability.
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Collaboration and Communication: Collaborated closely with the client throughout the project, understanding concerns and priorities regarding the preservation of successful elements from the legacy theme, providing regular updates, milestone reports, and seeking feedback to ensure alignment with their vision and goals.
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The Results
The results of the QBPN project were visually transformative, reflecting a strategic approach and meticulous execution.
TARGET AUDIENCE
Crafting the target persona for QBPN involved delving into the life and preferences of Susan, a 65-year-old retired grandmother with a passion for quilting. Susan values convenience and efficiency and appreciates fast delivery when purchasing online. She is visually oriented and appreciates full photos of quilts before making a purchase, gravitating towards designs and colors that uplift her mood, such as bright blues, petal pinks, and warm reds. Susan seeks an easy shopping experience with big, easy-to-read fonts and dislikes navigating cluttered or confusing websites. Understanding Susan's preferences and behaviors informed strategic decisions in rebranding and optimizing the QBPN website, ensuring a tailored experience that resonates with her quilting journey and enhances her overall satisfaction.
LOGO VARIATIONS
As part of QBPN's rebranding efforts, I developed three logo variations to ensure consistency and versatility across different platforms and marketing materials. The primary logo features the acronym ‘QBPN,’ aligning with the recent branding direction of the client. This version serves as the main representation of the brand identity. Additionally, I designed a full-word logo for instances where the complete name "Quilting Books Patterns and Notions" is needed, ensuring clarity and readability in marketing materials. Lastly, I created a favicon version of the logo, optimized for use in small spaces such as browser tabs or mobile app icons. These logo variations maintain visual cohesion while catering to different usage scenarios, enhancing QBPN's brand recognition and flexibility in various contexts.
COLOR PALETTE
After understanding Susan's preference for bright and uplifting colors, the color palette for QBPN was enhanced but maintained it’s recognizability. The previous palette included grays and harsh reds, which did not align with Susan's tastes. To cater to her preferences, I retained QBPN's main brand blue as a primary color and transformed the harsh red into a warm fuchsia. Additionally, I replaced the charcoal gray with a deep plum, which complements the other colors and creates a harmonious visual experience. To provide flexibility in marketing materials, I introduced two secondary colors to the palette: a light petal pink to complement the warm fuchsia and a dark teal for contrast where needed. These changes resulted in a vibrant and cohesive color palette that aligns with Susan's preferences and enhances QBPN's brand identity without changing it completely.
FONT SELECTION
For the font changes, I implemented a sitewide font of Open Sans, known for its readability across various devices. This choice was driven by the need to provide QBPN's target customer with an easy-to-read font that facilitates seamless browsing. Open Sans also conveys a friendly and welcoming tone, essential for enhancing the online shopping experience. In addition, I introduced an accent font, 'Lobster,' recognized from QBPN's brand logo. While Lobster adds a creative touch and resonates with the target audience, its readability can be challenging during quick scans. Therefore, it was used in moderation to serve as a delightful accent piece without compromising readability.
SHOPIFY 2.0 THEME SELECTION
During the theme selection process for QBPN, I meticulously considered several factors to ensure the chosen theme aligned with the brand's rebranding efforts, accommodated a vast product inventory, and adhered to conversion rate optimization (CRO) best practices. To begin, I extensively surveyed all available Shopify themes, focusing on those capable of handling large product portfolios. Subsequently, I evaluated the remaining themes against QBPN's high-revenue pages, such as the Homepage, Navigation, Checkout, Product Pages, and Collection Pages.
From this assessment, I identified four top-performing themes—Canopy, Expanse, Empire, and Enterprise—and proceeded to conduct thorough testing within QBPN's site environment. This testing phase aimed to ascertain each theme's flexibility and ease of customization, crucial for future client adjustments without incurring substantial development costs.
Upon comprehensive review, the standout choice was the Enterprise theme. This selection was based on its robust suite of out-of-the-box features, which not only aligned with QBPN's previous site functionalities but also introduced enhancements to elevate the overall user experience. Following discussions and agreement with the client, Enterprise emerged as the optimal theme choice to fulfill QBPN's needs effectively.
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