Me again (Zak) harping on about the last 10 years. You'd have thought I'd got nothing better to do!
Anyway, over the last 10 years we've gone through
4 different versions of Prezzybox. In some ways it has changed pretty radically, whilst other areas of the site are still really similar to how they once were.
We've not got every design we've ever done, but we've got a lot! So, here's a few of the site design concepts, together with some of our marketing endeavours throughout the ages. Enjoy...
Initial Design Phase
After my Nan had come up with the splendid name of Prezzybox, our designer started beavering away on the site layout and the logo.
Here's a few of the early options...
You like?
We eventually opted for the top one, but this didn't stick around for all that long! Square logos – not too clever for marketing online we quickly found out.
Some early design options
Unlike today where there are a multitude of websites, our designer (who was actually a packaging designer) didn't have a "huge" amount of websites to draw inspiration from. Here were some of his early efforts...
And another...
And for those of you who want to see the site infrastructure as we originally envisaged it...
Site Version 1
Eventually we all agreed on how best to move forwards and ended up with what we thought was an amazing design which was going to revolutionise the online gift sector.
A number of things quickly became clear. The site was built in frames (not good use of technology) and more worryingly we didn't have
ANY products on the home page. Instead we had a whacking great logo (my bad!). Not the best idea in the WORLD and one which was quickly remedied...
Site Version 1 – home page with products
As I say we quickly added a number of products to the home page so as to represent what we actually do. We also wanted to emphasise the fact that we had a snazzy gift wizard facility. We also introduced a search facility which our original site didn't have. Eeeek! Can you imagine a website now without a search facility? I told you we had a lot to learn.
Site Version 1 – Category Page
The first site displayed products on the category page in a weird "zig zaggy" style and featured a button called "I gotta have it". This was like the betamax of "add to cart" buttons. Once again this didn't stick around for long.
Compare this to our
current categories page
Site Version – 1 – Product Page
Although our first product page contained all of the necessary buttons, it was bereft of things like "customer reviews", "associated products" and "product videos". It was pretty basic but also pretty indicative of the time. You can see by clicking here (put link to product) that things have moved on a little...
The Gift Wizard
Our tagline was
"Prezzybox.com – home of the Gift Wizard". The Gift Wizard was the funky feature (we still have it on the site today) whereby you could enter all of the details of the recipient and then it would recommend some really snazzy gifts. Aside this we also had a wish list feature, a gift reminder tool and a referrals scheme (all soon to be reintroduced).
Site Version 1 – Our first ever on site promotion
This was our first ever marketing promotion. I was sooooo excited about this and thought it was the best thing ever. Things have come on a touch since then...
Site Version 2
In
2004 we developed a new site. Primarily this was for a number of reasons.
1) So it was no longer in frames (which was better for getting listed on Google)
2) So the site was static in size. Historically it had stretched to the size of your browser
– this was a nightmare from a design perspective
3) It also had a search facility across the whole site.
Site Version 3
In
2006 (check this) we introduced our 3rd site design. As people used bigger/wider monitors it meant that you had more room to play with – which therefore meant you could display more "sales" information above the fold. This is obviously better from a user perspective and should hopefully increase sales. We therefore launched our new improved (and wider site) in 2006.
There were a lot of changes on the 3rd version of the site. We introduced a
browse by price facility, customer reviews and a whole lot more. The design may be a little different, but you can see all of the Prezzybox traits and colourings.
Site Version 4
This is our snazzy new site – the current incantation. The site was launched in
August 2009 and we are really pleased with it. It works really well – has loads of features to help find the perfect gift, is easy to navigate and we feel that it portrays the products in a positive light. Don't take my word for it though – check it out!!
So there you have it folks – a little pictorial look at the progression of Prezzybox and our site design – from 2000 to modern day. We hope you like it :)
Me again (Zak) harping on about the last 10 years. You'd have thought I'd got nothing better to do!
Anyway, over the last 10 years we've gone through
4 different versions of Prezzybox. In some ways it has changed pretty radically, whilst other areas of the site are still really similar to how they once were.
We've not got every design we've ever done, but we've got a lot! So, here's a few of the site design concepts, together with some of our marketing endeavours throughout the ages. Enjoy...
Initial Design Phase
After my Nan had come up with the splendid name of Prezzybox, our designer started beavering away on the site layout and the logo.
Here's a few of the early options...
You like?
We eventually opted for the top one, but this didn't stick around for all that long! Square logos – not too clever for marketing online we quickly found out.
Some early design options
Unlike today where there are a multitude of websites, our designer (who was actually a packaging designer) didn't have a "huge" amount of websites to draw inspiration from. Here were some of his early efforts...
And another...
And for those of you who want to see the site infrastructure as we originally envisaged it...
Site Version 1
Eventually we all agreed on how best to move forwards and ended up with what we thought was an amazing design which was going to revolutionise the online gift sector.
A number of things quickly became clear. The site was built in frames (not good use of technology) and more worryingly we didn't have
ANY products on the home page. Instead we had a whacking great logo (my bad!). Not the best idea in the WORLD and one which was quickly remedied...
Site Version 1 – home page with products
As I say we quickly added a number of products to the home page so as to represent what we actually do. We also wanted to emphasise the fact that we had a snazzy gift wizard facility. We also introduced a search facility which our original site didn't have. Eeeek! Can you imagine a website now without a search facility? I told you we had a lot to learn.
Site Version 1 – Category Page
The first site displayed products on the category page in a weird "zig zaggy" style and featured a button called "I gotta have it". This was like the betamax of "add to cart" buttons. Once again this didn't stick around for long.
Compare this to our
current categories page
Site Version – 1 – Product Page
Although our first product page contained all of the necessary buttons, it was bereft of things like "customer reviews", "associated products" and "product videos". It was pretty basic but also pretty indicative of the time. You can see by clicking here (put link to product) that things have moved on a little...
The Gift Wizard
Our tagline was
"Prezzybox.com – home of the Gift Wizard". The Gift Wizard was the funky feature (we still have it on the site today) whereby you could enter all of the details of the recipient and then it would recommend some really snazzy gifts. Aside this we also had a wish list feature, a gift reminder tool and a referrals scheme (all soon to be reintroduced).
Site Version 1 – Our first ever on site promotion
This was our first ever marketing promotion. I was sooooo excited about this and thought it was the best thing ever. Things have come on a touch since then...
Site Version 2
In
2004 we developed a new site. Primarily this was for a number of reasons.
1) So it was no longer in frames (which was better for getting listed on Google)
2) So the site was static in size. Historically it had stretched to the size of your browser
– this was a nightmare from a design perspective
3) It also had a search facility across the whole site.
Site Version 3
In
2006 (check this) we introduced our 3rd site design. As people used bigger/wider monitors it meant that you had more room to play with – which therefore meant you could display more "sales" information above the fold. This is obviously better from a user perspective and should hopefully increase sales. We therefore launched our new improved (and wider site) in 2006.
There were a lot of changes on the 3rd version of the site. We introduced a
browse by price facility, customer reviews and a whole lot more. The design may be a little different, but you can see all of the Prezzybox traits and colourings.
Site Version 4
This is our snazzy new site – the current incantation. The site was launched in
August 2009 and we are really pleased with it. It works really well – has loads of features to help find the perfect gift, is easy to navigate and we feel that it portrays the products in a positive light. Don't take my word for it though – check it out!!
So there you have it folks – a little pictorial look at the progression of Prezzybox and our site design – from 2000 to modern day. We hope you like it :)