Asante Capital

In discussion with the client it became quickly evident that their prospective audience would look to spend very little time finding out information online, let alone trawling aimlessly through yet another financial services website. Therefore, it was imperative to build an online experience which would be incredibly quick to digest yet still be able to offer all the credibility befitting of a suitable prospective business partnership. We decided on three major sections of the site responsible for audience conversion. The first section outlined Asante’s legacy and credibility through succinct sector positioning and purpose. The second section outlined the services offered in a simple infographical cascade of high-level points using engaging parallax style animation. Finally, the third section presented Asante’s client experience using both a regional and investment class taxonomy. This allows users to drill down to experience relative to their own requirements.

We mapped out the key sections within a site architecture diagram and followed through with structural box model prototyping which afforded the client team an ability to make a call on overall site content depth and structure. This methodology uses online navigable website previews which provide a pretty decent view of structure way before initial design concepts are created. It also helps define the design aesthetic as the creative team can immediately see the level of detail required. In this case, we knew the content would be limited and therefore we concentrated on filling out the site experience with imagery and animation.

The client was keen to refresh their visual identity without the greater remit of undertaking a full brand refresh. We recreated their core colour palette and provided an updated typographical look and feel. As we were not refreshing their brand mark, we were to retain an overall nautical positioning. We didn’t want to default to just continuing using their existing sailing imagery, so we still went through the creative process of building an image identity. We looked at image concepts close to the nautical theme: Solo diving, performance sports and adventure exploration.

The client settled on a combination of performance sailing combined with a series of ambient water abstracts which were to be used as backgrounds and passive content. We commissioned a portrait photographer to capture all the London based staff in a variety of non-standard poses. We then also provided a shooting brief for New York and London so that the imagery would appear cohesive and standardised. In order to add to the interest, we built layout options into the staff bio page so that the web authors could choose a layout which best suited the portrait image. The sharp and professionally shot portraiture used with an expansive full screen style takes the site to a whole new level.

The site strictly adheres to best practice in responsive design ensuring clarity on every device viewport. The team pages, for instance, contain a number of image format crops to ensure speedy delivery of content across wireless data. Finally, in order to empower client-side authors, we created an extensive help guide which goes through all the key editorial site functions. The resulting financial services website is a homage to simple content delivery, online digital branding and rapid user experience.