the spark...

Derek Felton Website Design

Derek Felton is a speaker, author and life coach. He works to motivate and encourage young people who find themselves dealing with adversity.

Derek contacted Brightspark to create an overall identity for his business together with a website. This needed to incorporate podcasts, video content and a blog he could easily update. He asked for a brand and a website that would reflect his personality which is enthusiastic, hopeful, intelligent and playful. The style needed to be bright, bold and inspiring.

My first impression when I saw Dereks’ original site (see below) was that it would benefit from a clearer hierarchy of information. Visitors were not being effectively guided towards important areas and messages were competing with each other for attention.

I made a note of all the key points of the site, ordered them into a hierarchical list and sketched out a site map based on this list. I created simple wireframes for each page which helped to establish how all the elements would work together.

Once the content and flow was clear, I focused on the overall aesthetic. I decided to use a limited, three colour palette with one bright accent colour (acid green) to provide the bold, striking style that Derek was looking for. 

As with all my web work, I initially created a flat jpg of the home page for approval. Derek was immediately on board with the vivid look and was very happy with the concept. We experimented with a few different colours but eventually returned to green.

With the style established, the remaining pages were designed and built. Please visit www.derekfelton.com to see the final result.

To extend the brand further, Derek asked me to design his business cards and Twitter page.

Once the project was complete, Derek was kind enough to write a few words about his experience of working with Brightspark:-

“It was a pleasure working with David @ Brightspark. He was very professional from initial contact through to the formal proposal to the follow-up after we agreed to work together. 

What started as just a web design project led to a rebranding effort: new twitter background, business cards, and even a new color scheme! I will definitely work with David again!”

Derek Felton,
Owner