If you are representing a budget brand through your website, then a simple layout will most likely get the job done. However, if you are a luxury business, it is important that your website portrays the same high-end values. Having an understanding of design is helpful when wanting to make a positive impression on your customers.
A beautifully designed website, one that keeps all necessary design elements in mind, can help to reinforce a luxury brand. It will also ensure that customers see the value in the product and its price.
Although design and taste can be subjective, there are some features which luxurious brands use. Here is a look at some of the more common features:
Simple but Luxurious
Although the overall look of a website is an important factor, experts agree that individual design features
can play a big role in how a customer views a brand. Simple visual cues and features can have a big impact. Some things to keep in mind include:
- Use of Red / Blue / Green Colors
- Use of Hue / Saturation / Lightness
- Number of products
- Amount of white space
- The number of colours used.
Let’s look at a few examples of how this works in practice. Studies have shown that when designing luxurious watch websites, it is important to maximise the amount of whitespace used while keeping the number of products displayed to a minimum. Alternatively, for luxurious cars websites, the number of colours and products displayed should be minimal, and the colours used should not be too bright.
Give Importance to Mobile Platforms
It is easy to mistake mobile web browsing as a more ‘casual’ mode of surfing the web. This, however, is not actually the case. While ensuring your website is mobile-friendly is important for any business, it is even more essential if you are a luxury brand. No matter what the product is being bought – even for high-end brands such as Rolls Royce or Rolex – most customers will use their phones for research prior to buying. According to data from Think with Google, luxury car searches on mobile phones has increased by over 90%.
Give attention to enhancing the experience of browsing on mobile phones, this way you can stand out from other brands as well. Generally speaking, customers buying luxury products will be paying much greater attention to detail.
A good example of this in practice would be the website for a luxury hotel in Hobart. Many people are looking for and booking Hobart accommodation on their phones, so having a website that easily allows them to do this is important.
Typography
Popular website designers believe that typography is the heart and soul of a successful website. There have been widely reported cases where even the most serious of the articles have been disregarded due to the fonts they used; a popular example is that of the usage of Comic Sans for a New York Times article.
While there are no hard and fast rules when selecting typography, it is important that the font chosen is readable and communicates your brand. Even the best looking fonts will be useless if it is difficult for a customer to read.
The fonts have to be simple, classy and should not contain a lot of unnecessary lines or waves. In many cases, simple fonts are more likely to come across as elegant than those with too many flourishes.
A good idea can be to go through the fonts used by popular luxury websites and analyse what sort of typography they use. This can then be used as a starting point for choosing the typeface of your own brand.
If you are running an advertisement, running parallel ads with multiple typographies can be a very good way to identify the preference of your users. Alternatively, you can use the same for your entire website.
These are some tips and tricks to keep in mind when you are building your luxury brand website. If you are a designer or need to have a website design that reflects the quality and value of your products, starting with good design elements will ensure your customers also share your vision for luxury.
