Overview
Kelly J. Zúñiga, Ed.D., CFRE has worked in the non-profit space for over 25 years and was responsible for the management and operation of the Holocaust Museum Houston. During her 10-year tenure, she was responsible for daily operations of the Museum and served as the CEO of the Holocaust Museum Houston Foundation and its 14-member board. In 2019, she was selected as one of the Houston Business Journal’s Most Admired CEO’s.
Currently, she also serves as an adjunct lecturer at The Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M University and as a member of the Greater Houston Partnership’s Executive Women’s Partnership.
Problem
Kelly is retiring from her position at HMH (Holocaust Museum Houston) and is excited to start her next venture and put her plethora of skills and networking connections to use. She has decided to start her own namesake consulting company called Kelly Zuniga Consulting, or KZ Consulting for short.
Kelly has multiple needs and a high standard for herself and her work, and KZ Consulting has to reflect that. Some needs that are at the highest priority are as follows: To build a visually trustworthy brand, a brand guidebook to reference in future projects, a website with high usability, and deliverables from letterheads to digital business cards with QR codes.
Goal
The goal is to meet and exceed Kelly’s expectations and foster a designer/client relationship. This project is Kelly’s new baby and she takes it very seriously, as the designer behind the total visual user identity of KZ Consulting it is imperative to foster a strong relationship with the client to build trust and continue to work with them as they continue to grow and prosper as a company.
Duration
108 Hours
Roles
UI/UX Designer
Brand Designer
Graphic Designer
Deliverables
Brand Identity
Brand Guidelines
Responsive Website
Business Materials (Cards, Letterhead, Ect.)
Industry
Non-Profit
Museum
Consulting
Research
Competitor Analysis
Kelly shared with me 3 of her college’s websites to take a look at and dissect. Looking at these websites helped us determine some industry standards, where her competitors were lacking, and our websites baseline needs.
Competitors
The 3 chosen competitors that Kokorokoko will gain the most insight from are other Chicago local vintage stores. The stores chosen are Lost Girls Vintage, The Pop-Up, and UnaMae’s. Key findings from researching these stores can be found below the logo images.
Key Competitor Analysis Findings
Many online vintage stores sell their items “1 of 1”, which means once they are sold they are marked as “Sold Out” and are left on the site as an archive.
Having a “Featured Collection” or “Seasonal Collection” is a great way to promote new items and have a CTA on the homepage.
Social media channels (specifically Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Tok) are heavily used by many vintage stores and should be integrated into the website.
A good and friendly contact page is a must for a small brand.
Many vintage websites do NOT have a large stock of items for sale, mostly specific curated items with very detailed descriptions.
Good and consistent photography is key when displaying items.
Define
Sitemap
The sitemap was created to illustrate the basic structure of the website and to communicate the content that will populate each page to the client.
It can be seen that the site is not overly complex or difficult to understand, and that is done intentionally to make the site as usable as possible for the target audience.
Brand Identity
The Kokorokoko Aesthetic
If you were to go into the physical store on Milwaukee Ave, you would immediately understand that this store has a very bold, colorful, and a little bit messy aesthetic going for it. With hundreds of cool vintage collectibles and an amazing selection of ’80s and ‘90s intense color patterns across all clothing items, it was important to maintain this aesthetic in the responsive web design.
UI Design
User Friendliness - Responsive UI
Responsive UI
Integrating fun and exciting UI was an area that I made sure to emphasize to highlight the whimsy of Kokorokoko. Along with keeping the design within the existing aesthetic, prioritizing responsiveness (especially mobile) was another main area of focus to best utilize Kokorokoko’s current social following. Examples of these areas of focus are shown below.
The navigation holds the key tools used to navigate the site while also introducing Koko’s playful style and feel.
The Insta - Spotlight is a key area bridging Koko’s social following onto their new website. This allows them to shout out and promote followers wearing their clothes on the website and on social media, highlighting followers who shop and tag @kokorokoko.
Revisions & Improvement
Homepage Structure
Digital Business Cards
More decorations were added to the mobile navigation to match the visual flow that the tablet and desktop versions had.
Trending Item Highlight
Under the Men’s and Women’s category pages features an area to highlight specific trending items. The original design re-used the same pattern as the Instagram highlight on the homepage, the new design features elements from the homepage highlight with a few minor tweaks to differentiate it overall.
Physical Deliverables
Business Cards - Facts Sheet - Folders
Key Takeaways
In-depth user interviews lead to quality takeaways and accurate user stories.
Visual aesthetics need to reflect the energy, vibe, and feel of the overall product as a whole.
The balance of creativity, playfulness, and individuality can quickly overwhelm and needs to be finessed to perfection.
A high-quality research phase sets the groundwork for a successful product design.
Next Steps
Format all social platforms to reflect the new look of Kokorokoko.
Integrate new ways of payment to the checkout process (Google Pay, Apple Pay, Shop, etc.).
Create influencer & giveaway programs to expand upon social media reach.
Finalize designs and have files ready for handoff to the development team.
