Navigating a Website Redesign for a Capital Management Firm
Stellus Capital Branding & Website Redesign
OVERVIEW
Stellus Capital is a middle-market private equity capital investor that specializes in the credit and energy sectors. Stellus works with businesses to help them secure financial capital for growth and expansion, and was looking for a modern site that would build their credibility and display their expertise.
Stellus needed help telling their brand story online in a way that was both engaging and impactful.
DISCOVERY
Stellus came to us in need of updated branding and a redesigned website. While their current site had helpful content, the look and feel did not accurately represent their professionalism and or tell the story of their expertise in an compelling way.
Stakeholder interviews uncovered a wishlist of improvements and allowed us to hone in on our key goals for the project. Our competitive analysis allowed us to compare how Stellus fit into their market, and how to best differentiate them from other firms within the same space.
We engaged with Stellus in several branding exercises to uncover the essence of their company, which served as a guide for us as we crafted their branding strategy.
before
BRANDING & UX STRATEGY
The first thing we tackled was fleshing out the brand strategy. Building upon the existing color palette, we utilized several harmonious shades of blue to subconsciously send the message of Stellus’s stability and reliability.
For typography, we selected a clean and professional typeface to further convey Stellus’s competence.
For the logo, we played off of the origins of their name: Stellus is the combination of the Latin words “Stella” (English: Star) and “Solus” (English: Lone), which gives a nod to their location within the Lone Star state. The combination of the star pattern and the compass speaks to the expert guidance Stellus provides for all the companies it works with.
When it came to the site structure, we kept things simple and easy to navigate. We set up the sitemap to make it intuitive for visitors to find what they’re looking for, and structured pages in a way that made the content both engaging and easy to digest.
BUILD
With strong brand elements in place to tell the brand story, we jumped into building out the designs of the site. We combined the colors, typography, and design patterns we established during the strategy phase with compelling imagery and whitespace to craft a modern design.
On the homepage, we designed an interactive compass, pulled from the design language we created, and used each point on the compass to call out a different core value. The designs we created successfully displayed the professionalism and stability Stellus aimed to convey to their target audiences.
Once the designs were complete, we started coding the frontend and backend systems. We elected to create our custom build on top of the WordPress content management system (CMS) to allow Stellus admin the ability to easily update and edit content on the site in the future.
We also integrated Stellus’s investor communications platform into the site to allow all information to be accessible from one place. And we programmed everything to be responsive so the site would be optimized for usability on desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.
TEST & LAUNCH
With the site built, we were almost ready to take things live. Before we could go live, we had to complete our testing to ensure everything was functioning correctly.
We tested thoroughly on multiple browsers and devices to verify that the website was optimized for all screen sizes. After reviewing everything and training the client on how the content management system (CMS) works, we started prepping for launch.
We put together a thorough launch plan to make sure we were set up for a smooth launch. After receiving the green light to go live, we launched the site.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
Starting with a steady vision for their new site, we were able to build a site with a strong brand story that will serve Stellus effectively for years to come.
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