cabedge.com

They talked; we listened. We asked questions; they talked some more. We listened even more. We made notes on boards, notebooks, sticky notes and maybe a hand or two. Once we understood where they wanted to go, we were ready to start planning how to get them there.

Brite Revolution began as an idea in our client's mind. Now it was time for Brite to have an image. We began with moodboards to determine the look and feel, colors, typefaces and tone of the brand. As we developed these moodboards we simultaneously introduced logo ideas, giving us a clear preview of what the finished identity could look like. We tried various approaches, but ultimately landed on a brand with just the right mixture of vintage and modern aesthetics.

Music is easy to get online (even for free). So, we had to make sure that users of Brite's site felt it was a comfortable and enjoyable way to get music from Brite's artitsts. Before designing one pixel, we confirmed what kind of experience they needed with wireframing and user experience planning.

Creating the voice of a new brand is a bit like buying a new suit or dress; when you find one that fits, you know it. Once we developed the copywriting voice, Brite contributed their own photography and, of course, the music from their artists. Through the service's evolution, this initial voice has provided the basis for all the writing their current contributors produce.

With branding and content set, it was finally time to eat dessert and dig into the visual design for the site. This first version featured a dark background with a slick-looking metallic gradient that provided a bold contrast for the text, images and videos.

After their new website service had awhile to get reactions from their users, Brite listened to what they had to say. Responding to users' requests, we changed some features, added others and even took away a few. The aesthetics evolved a bit. For instance, the client provided photography that had a nice cross-processed, vintage look (think old Polaroids), so we softened our blacks and grays to blue tones and introduced subtle textures, keeping the dark and bold approach constant. Primarily, the interface of this iteration of the website reached a new level of usability.

Eventually the service and brand progressed to include the purchase of the music news print magazine Fringe (now the Brite Revolution magazine). With reading content online being as important as listening to music and watching videos, we transformed the design to a brighter, more reader-friendly aesthetic, utilizing a serif typeface and a white background to aid in the legibility of the new articles. We also updated the architecture to accommodate the new features.

All along the way, Brite has been all about content. Whether audio, video or written content, something new is added to Brite Revolution almost every day. Over the years we've continually improved and updated a fully customized Content Management Systems (CMS) to meet their growing needs. Built in Django, this CMS allows multiple members of Brite to access the areas they need and keep the content coming.