How we helped a best selling author and artist prepare for her newest book-launch and much more.

Client

Rupi Kaur Inc.

Scope

User Experience
Web Design
Web Development
eCommerce Development

Launched

September 2020

Overview

Anticipating the announcement of a partnership with Kotn, as well as the publication of her long awaited third book, Home Body, the Rupi team approached us for a new website that would reflect her standing as an international artistic icon.

The Challenge

Creating a 21st-century site for a 21st-century artist.

Rupi’s previous site had been designed prior to her international acclaim, and was therefore out of date. We needed to build a website that not only expressed Rupi’s personal brand, but one that sold books and apparel as well.

Strategy

Finding balance between artistry and functionality.

Rupi’s personal style is one of earthy tones, minimalism and emotional connection. We needed to build a website that sold products without sacrificing these traits inherent to her brand.

Visual Design

Stylescaping to find Inspiration.

A large part of the engagement was spent understanding what visual language we would use to communicate Rupi’s brand to her fans. We went through multiple series of Stylescapes, using inspiration from other websites and designers we admire in order to identify the right direction for Rupi.

Illustrations

Playing with delicate elements.

One of the main challenges we faced was finding a unique aesthetic element that matched Rupi’s brand, work, and illustrations, while not being entirely based upon them.

We explored various options before settling on a series of abstract watercolor dashes that imbued the site with colour and creativity.

Illustrations

Finding the right accent.

Development

A solid foundation for a delicate website.

Along with the challenge of creating a website that visually captured Rupi’s artistic essence, we needed to build one that was scalable and functional as well. This scalability is inherently important to a site like this because Rupi will constantly be growing as an artist and entrepreneur, adding new products and features throughout her career.

Custom Integrations

All in the words.

The way that the books are actually made is largely important to Rupi, so she asked us to build a custom Behind the Scenes element of the site where users could interact with the book and learn more about the materials and processes in which it was put together.

Shopify & WordPress

A seamless shopping experience for users.

We integrated the backend of Rupi’s affiliate Shopify site, Aspeth, into the front end of her new website so that the user’s would have a seamless shopping experience.

Outcome

Celebrating home body with all her fans.

Since the website’s launch, Rupi has announced and begun selling her Third book, along with announcing multiple products with affiliate companies such as Kotn and Inkbox. A majority of her products have sold out within days, and it’s only a matter of time until her newest book does too.