We designed and built the new website following a detailed briefing stage, whereby the commercial requirements of the site were clarified and agreed. Above all, it was vital that the booking process became seamless for all users. We carried out a workshop to review all the existing content and develop a refined user experience.

Our principal aim when designing this site was to let the content speak for itself. Space and simplistic use of colour highlight the beautiful imagery and lead users to find relevant information quickly and easily. The site’s overall look and feel had to reflect the brand’s offering, so the team took design cues from the interiors of the cottages, including wallpaper prints and period furnishings.

The old website was already the Duchy of Cornwall Cottages’ main channel for bookings, and they wanted to further increase the number of online bookings with the new website. We built a sophisticated search feature into the website and integrated a third-party booking system.

Alongside the website project we also designed and created a new sales brochure. This reflects the design principles of the site and acts as an effective sales tool. Careful choices on the types of paper used in the brochure further underline the quality of the properties featured within its pages.

We created a unique tone of voice and copy style guide to align with the brand’s values, business aims and audiences. We then wrote all of the website content in the brand voice, except for the property listings and FAQs, which we proof-read and edited. After conducting keyword research we crafted targeted search engine optimisation (SEO) data for each of the site’s pages to ensure that the website ranked highly in relevant search results.

We were also responsible for producing engaging video content for the site. We created storyboards for and art-directed the production, commissioning two filmmakers, Jamie from Jamron and Robbie from Hill Tribe Media, to shoot the footage that we then edited in-house. The outcome is crisp, evocative video that communicates Duchy of Cornwall Holiday Cottages’ appeal and individuality.