The voco brand was launched to cater to travelers who relied on established hotel brands, but were bored of the same, repetitive experiences. These travelers were looking for dependable properties with a comfortable and informal personality.
To exemplify the brand’s “Reliably Different” values in the digital space, the hotel’s site had to establish a clear structure for information and usability, while incorporating touches of charm throughout the messaging and the user interface.
Here’s some background info
The core tenets of the brand revolved around being “thoughtful, unstuffy, and charming.” The site needed to deliver on expected content and functionality, express its not-too-buttoned-up spirit, and share little dashes of delight. So, the site architecture, content structure, and page structure focused on being:
Thoughtful
- Simple site architecture and navigation
- Clear page structure with intuitive navigation
- Focused content areas
Unstuffy
- Narrative copy and imagery
- Editorial layout with layering
- Ample negative space
Charming
- Animations and micro-animations
- Hand-created brushstrokes
- Conversational tone of voice
A peek behind the curtain
In the initial explorations for layout and structure, there were studies that pushed the idea of being “Unstuffy.” A Bootstrap grid was embraced for stability and consistency, but various elements were purposefully asymmetrical to create flow and visual interest.
contributions: art direction, brand strategy (digital), UX design, visual design
This project required working closely with business stakeholders to define goals and requirements, with a full UX team to build the experience, with front-end and back-end developers to create system components, and with a branding team to distill and translate the brand into the digital space.