Assignment 1: Digital Style Guide

Paper Stone Scissors

Intent

The intent of this website is both to document a portfolio of projects and invite its audience to make contact.

Voice

Paper Stone Scissors is a creative agency based in Melbourne, Australia. They are a team of designers, strategists, illustrators, producers, animators and managers. They have worked with some of the most influential brands from generic to luxury. Their website is a culmination of interactive pop-out menus and a largely neutral colour palette with an emphasis on type and imagery. The voice of their website is both active, energetic and inspiring. It's easy to read, accessible, yet bold and interactive to its users. It offers an energetic feel due to the constant flow of visual elements such as videos and images. This is inspiring to its audience as potential clients can visualise their own brands in this capacity. The lively atmosphere of the homepage is inviting and gives a bold introduction to the brand.

Tone

The tone is fairly consistent throughout the site, with most pages containing the same neutral background and large bold type. However, pages contain either black and white or coloured imagery and are either text-heavy or light depending on the intent. For example, the homepage is almost purely colour images and videos. The lack of text draws the user in and insights interest based off of the visual elements. Other pages such as the ‘Services’ or ‘Studio’ pages are much more text heavy and are intended to be informative. They also contain strictly black and white images to allow the information to be the main focus of the page.

Brand

The website establishes Paper Stone Scissors as an upscale and result oriented agency. The neutral background colour and use of type maintain a sense of professionalism and minimalism however the interactive elements elevate the audience’s sense of the brand. Additionally, the constant flow of video and images feels current and communicates their ability to move with the times of an ever changing industry. Their website also feels unique. The unorthodox placement of type across the website, particularly on the ‘Services’ and ‘Production’ pages, shows users that they aren’t afraid to do something different which intentionally sets them apart from other creative agencies. In saying that, the website doesn’t establish the brand as having a niche or particular style which in turn leaves it open to a wider range of clients. Paper Stones Scissors are effectively taking advantage of their website not only being a place to showcase their portfolio, but to demonstrate upscale and advanced web design. This is a great example of using a website to boldly showcase work and effectively display skills to establish a brand.

Persona

A growing Melbourne fashion label, Observe Gallery, had heard about Paper Stone Scissors from a friend in the industry. They hear about their great experience with the agency and see the outcomes on social media. They are considering elevating their brand from a small business to a higher-end label through branding, publication and social media marketing. Observe already resonate with what they have seen from the company so far and therefore head to Paper Stone Scissors website to see more examples of their work and potentially make contact.

Homepage: Upon entering the website, the representative from Observe is instantly immersed in past projects in a constant flow of images and videos. When scrolling down they some specific examples with links to learn more about each project. They are able to easily navigate through the menu at any stage on the website without having to scroll back to the very top.

Content pages: When looking through the Studio, Services, Work, Production and Contact pages, Observe are able to gain a sense of the agency’s creative process and services offered that align with them.

Contact: They find a plethora of contact information for each of their offices including phone numbers, emails and the addresses of their studios. At the footer of every page, there are links to more of their social media platforms to explore further.

Overall, Observe held a positive view of Paper Stone Scissors after using their website. The minimalistic and modern feel translated well for their brand, they were easily able to make contact and could visualise their own brand working with the agency.

Darci Moore is 5 years into her career as a graphic designer, having graduated from Parsons in 2019. She finds that both her corporate job and freelance business are not fulfilling enough and would like to expand her repertoire. She has always dreamed of starting her own creative agency and is searching for inspiration for her company, specifically the website. She comes across Paper Stones Scissors and decides to look further.

Homepage: Darci is instantly struck by the homepage, with images and videos flashing across her screen. She is able to easily navigate throughout the website using the pop-out menu in the top left corner.

Content pages: Darci is able to observe what kind of content pages she will need for her own agency’s page. She notes what kind of pages Paper Stones Scissors have for their clients to look over as well as the plethora of contact options and social media links.

Overall, Darci is quite inspired by the website. Although her agency will not be as upscale or luxury-oriented as Paper Stone Scissors, she was able to establish what kind of elements she needs to include in her website in order to be successful.

Tom is a student studying Communication Design at Parsons. He is taking a web coding class and is looking for inspiration for what to include in his professional website. He has been searching the internet for different types of portfolios to analyse.

Homepage:Tom is very inspired by the homepage and would like to include a similar flow of imagery in his website as he has seen how effective it is to the audience. He wants to learn how to achieve this and considers what imagery he will use.

Content pages: Tom looks through the content pages of the site, wanting to learn more about how they have displayed the information, their design and how he can emulate this in his own style.

Wireframe

Copy Deck (WILL BE FORMATTED)

Title: Home

Menu:

• Home
• Studio
• Services
• Work
• Production
• Content

Subheading 2: Logo

Subheading 3: Our work

Subheading 4: English (language menu)

Heading 1: Breathing new life into a much loved fashion destination.

Subheading 5: Grace

Heading 2: Match & meet in real time, in real life.

Subheading 6: Ziinkle

Heading 3: The future of beauty.

Subheading 7: The Beauty Cut ‘21 By David Jones

Heading 4: Powering the future of Re-commerce.

Subheading 8: Reloop by Glam Corner

Heading 5: The Story Of The Pyjama King.

Subheading 9: 25 Years Of Peter Alexander

Heading 6: 100 Years and Counting.

Subheading 10: Perkins Eastman

Heading 7: Tiger In The City.

Subheading 11: Lunar New Year ‘22 By David Jones

Subheading 12: Studio

Subheading 13: Services

Subheading 14: Work

Subheading 15: Production

Subheading 16: Contact

Subheading 17: Now&Them

Subheading 18: News

Subheading 19: Play

Body copy: Stay up to date with us.

Heading 8: Sign up for our newsletter.

Body copy: You’ll hear from us roughly once a once with news from the studio, our latest work, job opportunities and upcoming events. Its an easy way to find out what we’re up to.

Subheading 20: Enter your email.

Heading 9: Want to find out how we can help your business? Say hello!

Subheading 21: Melbourne

Body copy:

174-176 Albert Street, Windsor, VIC, 3181, Australia

+61 3 9510 3216

Email us

Subheading 22: Sydney

Body copy:

20-40 Meagher Street, Chippendale, NSW, 2008, Australia

+61 2 8080 7555

Email us

Subheading 23: Shanghai

Body copy:

WeWork, 4th Floor, Office 122, No. 363, Changping Rd, Shanghai, China

+86 21 6083 1097

Email us

Body copy:

Instagram

LinkedIn

WeChat

Jobs

Competition

As mentioned earlier, Paper Stone Scissors website has a sense of uniqueness. The unconventional placement of type across the website, as well as interactive pop-out text and images shows their audience that they aren’t afraid to do something different and sets them apart from other creative agencies. One thing the website does well is balance a sense of professionalism with playfulness.

When comparing it to a website such as Worksight, a graphic design studio in New York City, there are a number of key elements that set them apart from their competitors. Worksight offers a similar range of services and is of a similar scale. Their website does not have a consistent tone throughout as the colour palette is not cohesive and is relatively plain. Most of the pages (including the homepage) feel crowded with text and images, without much negative space in between. Although functional as a website, Worksight has not used it as an opportunity to showcase their brand, nor does it feel current. As a point of contact and an opportunity to gain clients, Paper Stone Scissors effectively demonstrate their creative strengths as a brand while remaining up to date. worksight.com