Farmer Pirates Compost
Farmer Pirates Compost collects food scraps and converts them into nutrient-rich compost. But their impact is so much bigger than just creating compost! Every week, they prevent more than 28,000 pounds of food scraps from ending up in the landfill, where they’d rot and produce methane—a potent greenhouse gas and a major driver of climate change.
Climate change is a cause that’s near and dear to my heart. And as an avid native plant gardener, I love adding compost to my garden beds in the fall. Imagine my delight when former client Jeana Franjoine reached out on behalf of Farmer Pirates and asked if I’d build them a shiny new website!
When Jeana reached out, it was with quite a to-do list. Their current website needed a total overhaul. They wanted to be rescued from WIX. The site needed a brand update, a streamlined navigation, a clearer way to communicate details about the annual compost sale, and a splash of fun. Oh, and it needed to link to their Customer Portal so folks could manage their account, schedule pickup, and buy compost.
Done and done. I absolutely love giving small businesses the website they deserve!
Kind words
“This was my second time working with Kristen to create a website. If I am ever in need of a third, you know who I will reach out to! She is a joy to work with, keeps things extremely organized, is creative, and encouraging. Her final product is beyond what we imagined for Farmer Pirates Compost's new website. She did exactly what she said she would and much more. I especially appreciate all the resources Kristen provides post website launch to ensure you are capable of working with and making changes to your new website. Also, her check ins after show she is there to help even after our site has launched. Thank you Kristen!”
Jeana Franjoine, Worker Owner
Farmer Pirates Compost
Their old website
Farmer Pirates used WIX to create their original website. By the time they reached out to me, they were ready to pull their hair out. They found WIX frustrating to use, and the template was boxy and outdated. To give you an idea of where we started, here’s a look at their original website homepage:
The web design process
The Farmer Pirates crew was pretty well set with design elements. They already had a logo and a quirky font they wanted to use for their headlines. They had a new, muted brand color palette. And last but not least, they had lots of great photos of their collection points, totes, food scraps, and compost. To round it all out, I gave them a list of sites where they could download some free, high-quality, stock photos.
Because they wanted to rewrite and streamline the entire site, I set the crew up with a wording outline. I started my career as a copyrwiter, and I find that a wording outline is invaluable for clients who want to write their own wording. With the outline, all they had to do was plug in headlines, paragraphs, and button labels. Easy!
Farmer Pirates wanted a streamlined site with a fun, slightly-off-kilter aesthetic. They wanted the site to feel organic and dynamic. And perhaps most of all, they wanted some unexpected pops of fun. Right up my alley!
Here’s a look at some of the design elements I used on the new site:
To prevent the site from feeling stale with straight dividers between sections, I added organic dividers in all of the new brand colors
I sprinkled fun shapes throughout the site. Paired with almost all of the photos are organic shapes in their brand colors. And talk about having fun with icons! Each icon you see on the site is available with a different-colored organic shape layered behind it, giving the Farmer Pirates crew the ability to change up the look-and-feel of their site in just a couple of clicks.
I also sprinkled a few fun scrolling animations onto the site. As visitors scroll down, some elements will “stick” to a spot while other elements scroll past.
For a little touch of pizazz, the site’s buttons tilt sideways just a little on mouse hover—an unexpected and delightful little touch that made Jeana squeal the first time she saw it.
Supporting fonts that are available in Canva. Farmer Pirates uses Canva to design social media and marketing elements. As a former marketing pro, I wanted to make sure that they could easily create marketing elements that would match their new website. Brand consistency is hugely important!
I built the new Farmer Pirates website with the future in mind. I saved all of the designs on the back-end of their site so they could easily create new, brand-aligned pages going forward. And if they’d ever like to sell directly through their website, they’ll be able to add e-commerce to their site easily—without smashing the piggy bank.
Arrrrr, me matey. Take a look at their new website home page!
