Website Design
Allie Keast Jewelry sells handmade jewelry with hand-shaped stones and found objects. Their site needed to support e-commerce as well as provide information on lessons, custom commissions, and their busy market schedule.
AKJ’s sister business, Twenty 3 Designs, designs custom wedding and engagement jewelry. The Twenty 3 site needed to function as a portfolio and process information hub.
I’ve spent a year partnering with Allie and Paige to support their jewelry businesses through visual design. This project wasn’t just a refresh, but a chance to completely re-structure their websites to better serve their clients and streamline back-end processes.
AKJ’s sister business, Twenty 3 Designs, designs custom wedding and engagement jewelry. The Twenty 3 site needed to function as a portfolio and process information hub.
I’ve spent a year partnering with Allie and Paige to support their jewelry businesses through visual design. This project wasn’t just a refresh, but a chance to completely re-structure their websites to better serve their clients and streamline back-end processes.
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/b3e32cfb44411514ca7a6cf2398226e81a2716ede3f2de20b1c5b4579e2ec290/Screen-Shot-2023-05-11-at-1.32.45-PM.png)
Site Architecture
I began with primary and secondary research — combing through the existing sites, interviewing Allie & Paige, and seeking out direct and indirect competitor sites.
After determining what functions each site needed to serve, I listed out the pages needed to serve those functions & organized them for clear user navigation.
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/ec03c6a85b3230b64f9b12590d660c9cfab26a93ce03633e4cd791d9d9a381ed/Screen-Shot-2023-05-11-at-4.39.06-PM.png)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0cd341f6875fb838bbcbdc15a0ace089f8bbce9766f06e2e4cc24654ca4e2d48/Screen-Shot-2023-05-11-at-4.39.17-PM.png)
Wireframes
I built out a number of wireframes for each page in the architecture, refining until landing one one that felt right.
While wireframing, I asked my clients to collect competitor sites they liked or disliked, and give feedback on a handful that I had collected for them.
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/8e4260fd8d0e7dabf22be7b6211c23d825013884f1a19e3d3dab5c2a09939b95/Scan-4.jpg)
Content & Photography
As part of the architecture process, I outlined a masterlist of content needed for each site (both written and visual). My clients & I went through a few rounds of revisions. We used ChatGPT to assist in basic content generation, which was then edited for accuracy and voice.
Allie and Paige had a number of existing visuals for their sites, but much of it was dated or inconsistent. We hired a photographer to do a photoshoot in the studio, capturing process and people photos that felt professional & reflective of the brands.
Allie and Paige had a number of existing visuals for their sites, but much of it was dated or inconsistent. We hired a photographer to do a photoshoot in the studio, capturing process and people photos that felt professional & reflective of the brands.
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/6555d50611c58e5c285eea7d1b7ba273ca0698821d581dd1ba43bfa3caf90551/Keaster-12.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/0dbe5755e166e41c58fbfe4cb9ed86d0edfa137f0405b3e0b2dbdb62555993ac/KeastPortrait-1-2.jpg)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/70f86ca9067ae71c82134b8b469b8f3684bccdf93b879d6680047bfcd0a7344c/Keaster-9.jpg)
Images from our photographer, who has requested to remain anonymous
Site Building, Revisions, & Launch
Once wireframes were completed and reviewed, I began building the sites. I defaulted to the site builders that my clients were already using — Shopify for Allie Keast Jewelry, and Wix for Twenty 3 Designs.
Content was being generated and revised at the same time that the sites were being built. We deviated from some of the wireframes and reorganized a bit of the architecture. This included cutting some content that wasn’t essential to the launch and adapting a couple of page elements based on what was possible with the given back end.
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d661c96a908b778af160b95e11cf107b0464493d62d157c94d4a72b68f160321/akj-homepage.png)
![](https://freight.cargo.site/t/original/i/d9fcd5ece4e6750bcdfec77919a1d2aa69d490da64f9838b46edc3bfeb387cd3/twenty-3-homepage.png)
Live Sites
Visit Allie Keast Jewelry and Twenty 3 Designs here:
http://alliekeastjewelry.com/
http://twenty3designs.com/ ︎