Ship4wd (a digital freight forwarding service, owned by ZIM) needed a brand refresh and a new website with an emphasis on “helpfulness”.
The two main design requirements were that their signature purple had to feature heavily, and that it should look like a SaaS website.
The client wanted the homepage to really jump off the screen and make a complex topic easy to digest
The bulk of Ship4wd’s customers were small businesses, and it was expected that the majority of these were relatively new to the world of shipping — this meant that the design and website as a whole needed to be more than just a promotional tool, it also needed to be an educational one.
This dual purpose was folded into their brand where they positioned themselves as helpful on a personal level as well as just a business partner, hence the literal “helping hands” throughout the site. As well as these visual elements, this core principle was reinforced by the copy, which was designed to be up-front and as visually appealing as any graphics.
As well as the website design, I was also tasked with putting together some further supporting elements like the sign-up page for the customer-facing application they use, and a how-to guide that instructed the user on how to make their first order.
As the user interface of the application was in flux, we decided to forgo the inclusion of screenshots and instead chose to include illustrations to support the somewhat lengthy copy. By only showing a simplified representation of the UI, we also made a multi-step process a little less daunting for the new customers.
