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David Hunt Lighting
Web design

David Hunt Lighting

Web design

Website Redesign & Development

Shining a Light on a New Era of Custom Handmade Lighting

THE CLIENT

David Hunt Lighting and The Light Shade Studio are both companies that are part of the Dar Lighting Group.

David Hunt Lighting was established in 1687 and is a timeless British Brand which still makes bespoke handcrafted lights and shades in its Cotswold studios, sourcing all its materials within the UK. It supplies not only consumers but also Architects and Interior Designers with iconic, beautifully crafted British-made custom lights.

David Hunt Lighting has won many awards over the years and continues to inspire whether their customer is looking for a traditional-looking piece or a more modern, fashion statement light.

Offering a huge range of styles, shapes and materials, David Hunt Lighting is a unique company with a unique offering and a unique history.

The Light Shade Studio has just celebrated its 50th year in business and also offers handmade light shades from its Oxfordshire studio where everything is bespoke, handcrafted and hand-finished.

THE BRIEF

Having already established a long-term working relationship with the Dar Lighting Group, Rak Design was approached by DHL and TLSS to redesign both of their websites. The primary goals of the redesign involved adhering closely to the companies’ well-established brand guidelines and corporate branding, while also focusing on increasing brand awareness for both entities. A key aspect of the project was integrating prices and stock inventory with the backend ERP system. Additionally, it was crucial to ensure seamless integration of the new websites with their existing Product Information Management (PIM) system, Pimberley.

Security was another priority, with necessary updates made to safeguard both websites. With a vast array of styles, colours, and materials on offer, product filtering for the consumer was introduced, making it easier to navigate the diverse options available. Further improvements included enhancing the amount of information available on product detail pages and allowing customers to download their bespoke designs in PDF format. Moreover, a stockists list was added, alongside an overview of the bespoke services offered by the companies.

User experience was a key focus, and efforts were made to make the websites more intuitive and easier to navigate. A blog section was introduced to allow the clients to keep their customers updated on new changes, developments, and offerings. In addition, a detailed, chronological history of the David Hunt story, from 1687 to the present day, was included to give visitors a sense of heritage. To expand their services, an online shop and catalogue were created, with an updated payments portal providing a smooth checkout experience.

Two sites were created:

David Hunt Lighting
The LIght Shade Studio

 

Launch live site

THE CHALLENGE

One of the biggest challenges Rak Design faced was the tight timeline—just five months to build both websites. This urgency was compounded by the unethical behaviour of the previous website developers, which left DHL and TLSS in a difficult situation. Beyond the time constraints, the complexity of the website builds was another major challenge. The goal was to create modern, visually appealing, fully functional, and user-friendly websites that also integrated the highly specialized Bespoke Product Build software. This allowed consumers to select their bespoke items online—a technically demanding feature that added a layer of complexity to the project.

The outdated code and technology of the previous websites further complicated the integration of bespoke aspects. Navigating the old code while ensuring the seamless functionality of the new bespoke features required a significant degree of bespoke coding. Lastly, it was essential to enable easy, real-time updates to product listings and other content by the client, ensuring the websites could be maintained efficiently going forward.

The Result

The result is two seamless, beautifully designed and easy-to-navigate websites that allow the consumer to easily see what each company has to offer in terms of products and services, and to easily create their own bespoke lighting product with just a few clicks.

The websites were initially built using Figma – which allowed the client to see the websites fully in their concept as prototypes before they were actually built. This allowed any changes to be easily done before the actual build and saved time when it came to the bespoke coding required.

Rak Design used the Magento platform to build the websites and fully integrated them with ERP, NAVison and the PIM, Pimberley software. The work that Rak Design did in terms of the new builds means that the interface between the new websites and the above software is now even more streamlined, which improves the customer online experience and satisfaction

The new structures offer an easy-to-use navigation, a logical flow in terms of designing your own product as well as a sleek, modern look that reflects the quality and kudos of the brands. There is now also a facility for the consumer to download a PDF of their bespoke custom-made product that they have just ordered.

The new sites have vastly improved security and updated payment portals as well as online shops and a Blog which has created a new interface between DHL/LSS and its customers allowing for real-time updates and the latest news bulletins.

Both DHL and LSS can update their products easily themselves, which means that their customers always have the latest offerings in terms of materials, finishes, shapes and shades that are available. By being able to do this, DHL/LSS also have much better control of their inventory and therefore costs.

In terms of the look and feel of the websites, this has improved the brand image of each company and by improving the online content of the websites to include a full history, a list of stockists and more product details, then the SEO has improved and so has the visibility of each web site, leading to more visits and increased orders.

WHAT THE CLIENT SAID ABOUT THIS PROJECT

“Rak Design took all our requirements and ideas to create a coherent and beautiful website design. They then applied this to our existing website all within 4 months. We’ve had great feedback from our customers, both about the look of the website but the ease of use.

Our existing site was already complex, integrating to our EPOS system and custom made database, as well as having a complex B2B pricing architecture and customisable product visualiser. Rak Design was able to streamline a number of existing problems and advise us on how to achieve a more efficient website.

Their input and honest advice thought the process has been valuable to help us to achieve what we needed, not what we thought we wanted.”

Dar Lighting
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