TONIC Contest Winner

project scope

* Template Customization
* Color Palette Creation
* Stock Photography Sourcing

template customization

ABOUT THE PROJECT

I took part in TONIC's first ever homepage design contest and emerged as the winner. The contest was to take the homepage of one of TONIC's new Showit templates and customize it into something unique, without adding any custom sections or making any complex changes, to show buyers (who are likely not very tech-savvy) what's possible when it comes to customizing a template to be unique to your brand and business.

Template used: SIDECAR

Timeline: June 2023

Note that the website may have changed since project hand-off.


I decided to customize the homepage of the Sidecar template for a fictional duo of brand photographers.

My goal was for the homepage to showcase their amazing brand photographs and colourful personality but not be too overwhelming and still have a clean & fun design.

I created a colour palette and curated images from Pexels & Unsplash and got to work customizing the template, adding in some fun elements, moving around a few sections etc to create the perfect homepage for this fictional business.

Project Details

+  HOVER OVER IMAGE TO SCROLL

The Results

AFTER

BEFORE

The Results

Changes Made

A few tweaks can take a well built template from "same as others" to uniquely your brand. Here's some things I did to customize this template for this fictional brand that a lot of people liked.

I swapped some of the static images for gifs & galleries on auto scroll to add a little movement to the page and draw the viewers eyes in and really show of the brands photography skills. Of course I added this in sparingly as too much can slow down a page and overwhelm users.

This just added a bit more personality to the homepage especially as they were in sections where there was a noticable constrast between their color and the backgrounds

I used a thick Serif font called Gloock for the headings and Questrial for the paragraphs, because this fit the brands bold and fun personality, as well as a vibrant color palette. 

ADDED IN HALF CIRCLES IN CERTAIN AREAS

CHANGED THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE FIRST SECTION BELOW THE HERO

use of gifs & galleries to add some movement to the page

FONTS & COLORS USED

This was one of the most prominent changes I made. I moved around the images and put the text between the images, as well as added rounded corners and changed the sizes of some of the images to create a magazine like effect.

I'd love to support you with this and design a website for your business that is a great experience for your users and makes it easier for you to sell your offers. Check out the ways we can work today by clicking the button below.

Need some help customizing a template into your dream website?

LET'S GET STARTED