Martinus has a very strong position on the Slovak market – this is mainly thanks to its highly skilled staff, which is always very helpful in searching the right books for you at their stores. This is especially helpful during the Christmas season, as the purchases are significantly higher, with many people looking for suggestions of what books should they get for their Christmas presents. That is why Martinus has for some time now been preparing a list of the best books of the year – selected by experts and not by ratings – in order to bring their customers an added value. However, these lists had been mostly promoted in print catalogues and the digital representations were not sufficient.
THE CHALLENGE
Improve the digital presentation of the project "Books of the Year". Site and components should be modular, in order to adapt the site for next years.
Our main focus was on the UX and Visual Design of the page, since the selection of the books had already been done and physical catalogues were about to go to print.
The basic design elements, such as colors, buttons or typography were all based on the design system, which we (LB* Studio) had build a short time ago. However, the main visual goal was to bring the atmosphere of the physical store with shelves and tables full of books and to portrait this atmosphere on the webpage.
When you enter any Martinus store, the first contact you have with the books is directly on the tables that are set across the whole store. These tables have become our leading design element, which would help the online visitors associate the theme of the website with the physical stores they visit.
Another important factor for us in design was the use of dynamic elements, so that the visitors would not just read a list of book recommendations, but should spend a little more time “searching” for the right book.
As part of our delivery, we have created several different components for the book showcase, so that Martinus can use all of these elements for the build of future Book of the Year webpages on their own. These components should be used in different orders, so that the content would not be displayed statically.
The final delivery was a full design of a webpage, with tabs for different book genres, secondary purchase option overlays in hero images and also a children section with books selected especially for kids, categorized into different age groups. All of these books could be purchased or reserved directly from this webpage.
Since more than 50% of the online store visitors use their mobile devices, it was important to ensure that the design elements work well on mobile screens, too.
When the Christmas season comes again and you would be wondering what book could be great for your loved ones, head over to Martinus.sk – I can guarantee that they will suggest some amazing books for you.