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"Peter was the driving force behind my refresh. He took a clunky site that didn't really speak to anybody and transformed it into a sleek touchpoint that clearly articulates my brand.
At the start, I wasn't able to see the wood for the trees, but Peter guided my web developer and me through the process from start to finish."
Machel - CCP Founder
Reaching over 100,000 subscribers, the CCP network provides news and views from the ever-changing landscape of Caribbean cricket. It began as a podcast, founded by journalist Machel St Patrick Hewitt, and now incorporates podcasts, in-depth video analysis, and expert writing. The website, however, was letting the side down.
Delivered: A stylish new website for a growing cricket news outlet.
It had been set up quickly to meet a demand for a touchpoint, but it looked fairly basic and was lacking a clear message. Despite the sub-par site, Machel's social media presence had built a passionate following. But with his platform on the grow, it was time the website started pulling its weight. Enter Takeaway Copy.
old site
new site
Another important question related to the visual style. I asked Machel to provide examples of websites that hinted at what he was going for. This would tell me where he set the bar in terms of his platform's style and tone of voice. Zeitgeisty football platform Stadio was his benchmark. Was there a way to bring that kind of moody counter-culture cool to Caribbean cricket?
"If a visitor to your site only does one thing, what would it be?" That was one of the key questions I posed to Machel in my pre-project Q&A. It was important because it would inform how I organised the site and crafted the copy. Machel wanted visitors to pay to subscribe, which meant persuasive call-to-action points would be the focus of my work.
Machel had a developer in place for the project, the Canadian software guru Dennis Hall, so my original remit was just to provide copywriting. But early discussions revealed that there wasn't a cohesive plan for the site's design, and a range of templates were under consideration. A template, I felt, would stop the site from living up to its creative potential, so I proposed a bespoke approach. This required a little more work from the team, but it was definitely worth it.
I drafted a rough design for the site that was striking but minimal, allowing the copy and call-to-action points to have maximum impact while inspiring confidence in Machel's brand. This would become the blueprint for CCP's new site. Concept designs are rarely followed to the letter, but having such a clean and functional plan for the layout and copy set a very clear pathway. That's why the final version of the site is very close to my original concept designs.
inspiration: Stadio
section concept designs
To help Machel maintain the site on an ongoing basis, it was built using a platform he was familiar with, Squarespace. It offers a great framework for basic web design, but we found its rigidity compromised layout flexibility. It also caused odd paragraph compression in certain scenarios. Every design change had the potential to knock something else out of kilter, so Dennis Hall, who was building the site in Canada, had to work carefully to integrate my QC notes while not harming the layout. He did a great job of making changes while also managing my expectations.
The other issue we had to quickly come to grips with was the fact that we were an international team working across different time zones. This slowed the process, but the general idea remained the same.
We went back and forth over a number of weeks to develop the pages and test the UI features. When Dennis reached a stopping point, I would scrutinise the site and draw up a list of bugs and issues and offer creative solutions.
In an ideal world, I would have liked to have been more hands-on with the build, but Dennis had expertise in CSS and custom website creation that was vital to achieving the functionality Machel required. It was great to have someone with his skill set on the team, so it was best to let the digital guru do his thing.
Machel St Patrick Hewitt
Founder
Key Takeaway: I could have just stuck to writing copy for the site, but I saw the potential to create a real marker for Machel's brand with a bespoke design. It is still early days for the site, but early signs show that it is vastly outperforming the original in the metrics of new subscriptions and lead generation. Watch this space.
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