The Family Room SF
A New Focus And E-commerce Site For One Of SF's Hidden Gems
Background
Andy Alvarado busy crafting some ties
Unfulfilled by his corporate job, Andy Alvarado combined his passion for craft culture and style to create The Family Room. He started by hand making custom flower lapel pins, pocket squares, ties, and bowties made from unique fabric sourced from the US or Japan.
In 2015, Andy debuted his website and opened the first Family Room location in San Francisco. The location became more than a place to sell crafted accessories, he sold single origin coffee, curated housewares, and held neighborhood events. In 2016 the Family Room came to Plinth to create a new e-commerce enabled website that would help his business grow further.
Objectives
- Develop a new website that incorporates all parts of the Family Room's business.
- Develop copy that is in line with the Family Room brand.
- Grow the Family Room's online sales and custom made accessories business.
Strategy
- Establish and communicate a common theme that ties the Family Room all the sub-brands together.
- Design the website to clearly communicate what the Family Room business is and its relationship to its complementary brands, the One-Up Shop accessories, Black and Sweet coffee, and Hyde & Chill events.
- Develop a verbal identity and copy around Andy's personality and inspirations.
- Encourage online sales and custom orders by making the ability to buy items and inquire about orders a priority.
the original website
The original website was simple with a San Francisco cityscape leading directly to his Instagram feed. If you weren't already familiar with the Family Room, it was difficult to understand what it is.
The new website
We designed the new website to communicate the Family Room as brand that makes and sells essentials for an elevated lifestyle. A video background and large hero shots were used to convey the brand elements more effectively on mobile and desktop devices.
The old website emphasized the Family Room's location and social media feed. For the new website, we placed emphasis on the Family Room the products by making it the first thing people see. The Black and Sweet coffee component and Hyde and Chill events followed after.
To grow his custom accessories business we created a section showcasing the Family Room's custom accessories and Groomsmen Packages. Each section gives customers the ability to submit a direct order request.
BRAND EXPLORATION: ORGANIZING THE BRAND'S elements UNDER A COMMON THEME
The first thing we did was speak with Andy to understand his business priorities in order to develop the brand elements and web design that would help him achieve his vision. During the brand exploration, we found that all the products and events were essentials for those looking for to add quality and artistry to their lives.
We distilled this idea into "Essentials for the Elevated". This common theme would serve to tie all the Family Room brands together.
verbal identity and crafting copy
The Family Room brand is truly a reflection of its owner Andy so we build a verbal identity around his personality and his creative inspirations. Andy is part of a generation that was raised in the Golden Age of Hip Hop (early 90's) and grew up following the birth of street wear.
Taking inspiration from Andy's hip hop roots, we used light alliteration to create short, memorable catchphrases for each section.
The future
With a new brand focus and commerce enabled website Andy has more tools to realized his vision for the Family Room.
ask yourself, does your brand and website work to bring you business? if not we should talk.
