Tri-Eagle Sales is the leading beverage wholesaler in North and North Central Florida and a long time client of BowStern Marketing Communications, which is where I worked when I completed this project. After an unexpected year of growth during the pandemic, they were focused on finding new and better employees, and wanted to use this website as a recruitment tool for good talent. They were also looking for an engaging and immersive experience to showcase the myriad beverages they deliver to liquor stores, bars, and grocers across Florida.
Creating a Plan
As this was a redesign, I wasn't starting completely from scratch with the sitemap. I adapted what I had from their live site, and removed and combined extraneous pages to create a simpler navigation. Through analytics research I discovered that one of the most visited page on their site was in fact the careers page they wanted to highlight in the redesign. Keeping the careers page at a high level on their navigation was important to maintaining this traffic and meeting this goal.
Most users were on mobile, so creating a mobile-friendly site was key
Careers Page
It was important to approach the careers page strategically with the job seeker in mind. I chose to lead with a brief and inspiring call to action, followed quickly by the benefits offered, because they have very appealing benefits - like a four day work week. TES uses a third party software for their application process that is fully integrated into their workflow. Ultimately the easiest way for the client was to include that directly on the page via code from their third party app. I also included a quick form to capture any prospective employees that did not fit into any available positions but were interested in being considered in the future. To help with any hesitancy to apply, I included a section that detailed the hiring process, including typical wait times after submitting an application. Finally, I included a section on their company culture and values for those interested in further reading about TES.
This page layout was informed by visual research of some of the most effective career pages online at the time - including LinkedIn, Whole Foods, Spotify, and Facebook
Designing the Homepage
TES identifies as a fun place to work for, with plenty of friendly people that work hard together in a family-like atmosphere. Therefore, I did not want to take the design too seriously. Instead, I based my design on bold colors picked from their branding, and meshed it with textures and images you might find in a bar or liquor store.
Because TES is an Anheuser-Busch partner, I had access to a library of brand materials to help solidify them as the leader in beverage sales for brands like Budweiser and Stella Artois. I also worked with TES to pair them with a local photographer, who created a library of images that feel high quality, custom, and lend a sense of legitimacy to the design.
Custom photography & Anheuser-Busch assets were helpful in giving this design a polished, custom feel.
Iterating the Design
After establishing the design elements, typography, and color scheme on the homepage, the remaining task was to iterate the rest of the site. I incorporated elements you might see in a bar. Hops, dark wood, and wood burned logos set the bar-like mood the client wanted to achieve. Good product photography was also helpful in this goal. I used cutouts of cans and bottles to give users a sense of size and perspective for the various beverages TES wanted to highlight.
Development
The client expressed an interest in being able to control every aspect of the design, and their previous website didn't offer enough control to meet their goals. Keeping this in mind, I decided to develop their new site primarily using the Divi framework for Wordpress. I had help from my Creative Director at BowStern with integrating the extensive database of beverages into the site. Once integrated, I used CSS to give each beverage card a background that hints at the notion of a coaster.
After a few training sessions, I released the site to the client. Last I spoke to them in early 2021, they were very satisfied with their ability to control and design the site as they saw fit. View it live here.