Laphroaig is my favourite whisky. It was on a tour around Islay, visiting some of the many distilleries, that I first tasted a dram of it. This whisky has a very unique character, a strong local tradition and is the the only whisky to carry the Royal Warrant of the Prince of Wales.
When I looked at their website in early 2016, I couldn't see the same sophistication and high quality on there. So, I decided to create an updated version purely as a personal project.
The old website looked rather dated and was not mobile responsive. Looking at the competitors, they all were using large atmospheric landscape and product photos. The quality of the visuals and usabilty emphasized the quality and image the whiskies and their print advertisements had. I wanted to create something similar for the new Laphroaig homepage.
I centered and broadened the page content to increase emotional impact, put a banner carousel on top with atmospheric landscape and product photography to cover 3 main page purposes: 1. inform 2. sell 3. retain.
The identity of the page consists of rough, authentic shots of Islay, information and images about the malting and whisky making process, a clear and generous design with almost tangible textures, and an emphasis on the Friends of Laphroaig programme. I also chose to feature the Royal Warrant of Appointment in both header and footer, because why not show it off like on the bottles?
There was also a wireframe of a mobile version of the homepage to show how the modules would behave on smaller screens.
The website has since been redesigned. And although I am very sure Laphroaig have never seen my design draft, I feel like many of my suggestions have been implemented.
“A big, peaty slap in the face. Perfect.” — John Campbell
