Introduction
It feels fitting that the first blog post I write here is about the website itself. This has been a learning experience for me. I usually work on solutions that are fully automated - a company website is entirely about the user experience. So I decided I wanted to do things myself, from the ground up. Off-the-shelf solutions exist that would have been noticeably faster, but I wanted to own every design decision personally for this one.
Branding
Actually it hasn't been just a website, it's been our brand too. We had no logo, or colors picked out when I started on the website. I knew what I wanted to do, but I didn't know how I was going to market myself or what that would look like.
The first thing I learned when I set out to create a company logo was that it's difficult without first having a company name.
I came up with many different fancy names, but it wasn't until I asked myself the right question that I managed to make up my mind.
What is the purpose of a company name?
Well I think it's fair to say that it ultimately comes down to communication.
Communication
For a tiny company like us, the name is our one chance to make an impression. We get one or two words, so now I had to figure out who I'm talking to, and what I want to say.
Well I wanted to appeal to small business owners, farmers, local communities. Say what, though? Who we are, and what we do? Sounds good, so I went with Svendsen Systems. Now it carries my name, and the thing I do best.
From there the pieces started to fall in to place. I felt a clarity, like all questions already came answered. I wanted to create a website that I'd personally like, and that captures the spirit of our company.
Spirit Of Our Company
I've always been inspired by generalists: people with deep practical experience across a wide range of fields. A farmer is a great example. A modern farm is an advanced operation with many moving parts, and the farmer is the generalist who keeps the whole system running.
A complex system is usually made of parts that are themselves complex, and no one can master every one. Large organizations solve this by hiring a specialist for each part. Small companies and communities can't, and they don't need to. What they need is someone who understands enough of the whole to keep it working, and who knows when a specialist is worth calling in.
That is the spirit I want Svendsen Systems to have. We are digital generalists: we take on problems as whole systems, and unfamiliar parts don't worry us, because figuring out how something works is exactly what we're good at.
Requirements
The website is a relatively simple project: it's just a presentation of our company and our services, and a few special features like this blog. That means we can own every detail and do it our way.
The site serves several purposes at once. It is our public face. It demonstrates our own work, since we built it. And as an ongoing project built from scratch, it keeps us sharp in the underlying ecosystem
I wanted the website to remain fully operational even without JavaScript, out of respect for clients who run locked-down browsers. It should be fundamentally static, so it can be hosted for free on GitHub Pages. JavaScript and server-side features should enhance that core when available, never gate it.
It should support themes, because people have different preferences and it matters. It should be multi-language, because Scandinavia is. It should be easy to navigate and read on any device. And it should work for people using screen readers and other accessibility aids.
Graphics & Design
Now I had to turn these insights and requirements into a visual design. We still didn't have a logo, but I had a vague idea that I wanted it to involve gears (the universal engineering symbol) together with electronics somehow.
I also needed more artwork than just a logo, I needed branding elements, a consistent style, a face or a mascot. We definitely did not have any budget to hire an artist to produce these things on demand, so I spent many hours searching for assets to license.
As for what I actually ended up using, the website speaks for itself. I found these awesome character illustrations and loved the energy, so I decided that they will be our mascots. I like that they are so extroverted and positive, which balances my more introverted tendencies. From my limited research it appears that the characters are produced by a small family business from Belarus, for more info about them see the Q&A page.
Once I had picked our mascots I knew what art style I was going for, so I contacted a talented artist I already knew. Company logos is not her usual thing but then again I didn't really want a usual logo. I wanted something that would match the art style of my mascots, and that I could animate a little bit for the website. I really like the results, for more info about the artist see the Q&A page.
Until Next Time
In the next part I will dive into the technical details of the solution.
Thank you for reading.