Boodles: A Family Journey

Platform: Shopify Plus
Industry: Jewellery

Reflecting a luxury brands family heritage on Shopify

  • Digital Design UI/UX

  • Technical Consultation

  • Systems integration

  • Art Direction

Tech:

The Story So Far

Boodles is one of the oldest, most prestigious fine jewellery brands in the world. Hailing from Liverpool in 1798, theirs is a tale like no other. The brand has been in the hands of the same family for over two centuries, so we’re privileged to be trusted with the safe keeping of their website for the past 7 years.

The Challenge

Boodles have always been incredibly good at portraying their high-jewellery collections through marketing in print and in their showrooms, but they wanted to make sure that the collection was also portrayed to the same luxurious standard on their website.

This time around they knew they wanted to show the family heritage through the jewellery and wanted to dedicate more online space to the collection than in previous years, which may have included a banner or press release/blog, in order to truly honour the journey taken by Nicholas.

Knowing that their customers browse online before going to store, Boodles advertising was traditionally steered towards their showrooms, but this time they wanted us to help reflect the offline marketing efforts online in an immersive and interactive way that successfully told this amazing story.

Unified Approach

In total the project took four months from the commencement of design work to the go-live date in early July. We made sure that the site was optimised for mobile devices, ensuring that Boodles website not only looked appealing but also functions effectively across different screen sizes. A mobile-responsive design enhances user experience and accessibility whilst also converting mobile consumers.

Like most projects the design evolved over time through collaboration with the client. From the start we knew we wanted to use creative and personal design to communicate a complex subject and set the Boodles website apart from competitors. Infographics, visual diagrams, handwritten letters and illustrations were a big part of the original concept for this project to make the content more immersive.

We suggested the use of interactive elements, animations, and creative layouts to keep users engaged and encourage them to interact with Boodles’ content; out of that the use the interactive map was born. It was truly rewarding to see one of our ideas be brought to life by a clients in house team – it was a real team effort win.

Incorporating our creative design with a clients marketing team allows for alignment with brand's goals and target audience preferences. It's essential, for a project of this scale, to strike a balance between agency input/creativity and a brands existing knowledge of website usability to ensure that our designs enhance user experience and support a brands overall objectives.

It was clear from the beginning that this collection was telling a heartfelt family story, so the website needed to convey the same. Each piece is crafted with meticulous attention to detail, making them stand out in the world of luxury jewellery, so we were ready to design a website to match.

After being sent the Family Journey video we got to work coming up with some truly immersive ideas to tell the story of Nicholas’ journey across Europe. Our designers provided variations on a concept whilst working closely with the team at Boodles to find a narrative that would resonate with visitors.

Client Quote

 “At Boodles, we are always looking for new and interesting ways to portray our jewellery designs online. We approached Unified to help us launch our new High Jewellery collection on our website in a clear, but characterful way."

Laura Edwards - Digital Marketing Manager - Boodles

Client Quote

"We wanted to show the journey in an interactive way, Unified’s suggestion was to animate the route using a dotted line down the page which passes through the locations and jewellery along the route. The jewellery can then be explored further through subpages that work well on both desktop and mobile."

Laura Edwards - Digital Marketing Manager - Boodles

In total the project took four months from the commencement of design work to the go-live date in early July. We made sure that the site was optimised for mobile devices, ensuring that Boodles website not only looked appealing but also functions effectively across different screen sizes. A mobile-responsive design enhances user experience and accessibility whilst also converting mobile consumers.

We knew that creative UX led design can indirectly impact a website's search engine optimisation (SEO). This is because a visually engaging and user-friendly website can lead to longer visit durations, lower bounce rates, and increased user interactions, all of which can positively influence SEO rankings, so we had to make sure all the standard SEO checks were done too.

“"This was an interesting and diverse project to work on, made up of various interactive sections, displaying the content in a engaging format."”

Matt Kempster - Frontend Developer - Unified

We thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the Boodles journey and being inspired by a collection which is full of unique and imaginative designs that showcase a blend of classic elegance and contemporary creativity as well as family heritage.

As one of the most esteemed jewellery brands in the world, Boodles continues to captivate jewellery enthusiasts with its extraordinary designs and commitment to excellence.

Boodles now stands with a preservation of the family legacy online through the Family Journey project. Their current high-jewellery collection serves as a platform to preserve and pass on the family story and share it worldwide.

Increase in new users
Increase in family product views
Increase in Conversion Rate
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