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This week we have launched the brand new Screamfest website.
Screamfest is a terrifyingly good attraction based at the National Adventure Farm which takes you on a journey through a number of scare attractions throughout October.
Screamfest was an extremely fun website to work on as we could go all out when it came to design and imagination. We sat down with the marketing team at the Adventure Farm and blue skied a few ideas between us before coming up with a concept that would really make them stand out from the competition.
The brief was to create an interesting and interactive website that was simple to use and maintaining standard usability practices but at the same time providing animation and media throughout. On top of this, the website needed to be editable internally by the marketing team at Screamfest, allowing them to make core text and image changes when required.
In the first stage we researched other scare events websites to see what we needed to beat. Following this, we started the initial wire framing and design stage to get a core concept onto paper. Throughout this stage, we freed ourselves from any standard web limitations which would usually restrict design due to the need for an underlying CMS (editable area). The aim was to not compromise on imagination and design then work out how to implement editable areas afterwards.
On top of ensuring an imaginative design could incorporate a CMS system, we also had to bear in mind the use of text throughout the site to ensure the website also ranked well on search engines. In order to accomplish this, we used web fonts for a seamless text / visual combination.
As the site was to be mobile responsive we kept this in mind from the very first stage, outlining which areas we wanted to animate and outlining how this would change and animate on mobile platforms.
Next up we started to turn the concept into reality as our designers developed sample digital concepts from the brief and wire framing.
We were provided all the required photography we needed to make the website work and came up with a unique blend of photography and illustrated design.
Once the design samples had been created, these were sent to the client for changes and approval before moving on to development. We made adjustments accordingly and worked between us to get a final approved design and a break down of the animations to be included.
The website then went into development with complete bespoke development. We decided to base the site around a trimmed down WordPress core editing system as this is what the client was used to using for their other website. Although the entire website was custom developed from start to finish, this allowed us to implement the WordPress editor wherever required through writing our own custom plugins for specific editable elements.
Once the site was developed, we performed rigorous in house testing an all the latest browsers and devices, using both emulators and physical devices. We then passed it onto the client for in house testing and any further changes required at this stage before launch.
Following a few minor changes and additions to a new ‘scare’, the site was ready to go live for launch.
We then worked with the client to provide a bespoke email template to announce the launch of the new website for 2016.
Lastly, we carried out 301 redirects to ensure any previous Google rankings were not lost and set up the website in our unique monitoring tool to keep an eye on its activity. Through this, we can monitor where users are clicking and their journey throughout the website feed back for any further adjustments.
The completed website features unique animations throughout the homepage, keeping the rest of the site simple for ease of use by the target audience. Keep an eye out for some of these animations including the swinging ‘scares’ sign which sticks to the header only whilst scrolling through the scares section.
Take a look at the website here and if you’re looking for a fun activity this Halloween get your tickets booked, as they are already selling fast!
www.screamfest.co.uk
UPDATE : CSS Design Awards Nominee
Screamfest has now been nominated for the CSS Design Awards.
Please help this along by placing your vote (click the little applaud icon) here https://www.cssdesignawards.com/sites/screamfest/28741/
