Local websites
Local websites
Parkbench is a network of websites for real estate professionals, residents, and business owners, based in North America, that helps to deepen their relationships by creating interactive platforms that provide regularly updated, community-related information and cultivate effective communication between all community members. Ester, a real estate website development company, worked on designing a new website and social platform, developing a clear and esthetically pleasing brand identity, and creating a range of visually-gripping custom illustrations.
Parkbench’s mission is to support real estate agents to become sponsors for their neighborhood, thus deepening their roots in their community and enhancing their expertise. Parkbench also helps local business owners by promoting themselves online and attracting more customers. Homeowners can use their neighborhood website to strengthen their relationship with real estate agents since it makes communication much easier and accessible and allows them to get acquainted with the small businesses and initiatives that work for the benefit of their community. Parkbench seeks to make neighborhoods stronger socially, economically, and environmentally.
The website offers several marketing tools that help stakeholders achieve their own specific goals.
Real estate agents can expand their client database and gain experience in a given neighborhood.
Small business owners can promote themselves and their activities and attract more new clients in a much quicker and more efficient way. Local residents can get information about the state of events in their area, communicate with real estate agents and business owners, search for listings, read the newsfeed and get immersed in the social and cultural life of their own neighborhood.
Before starting work on the illustrations, Ester developed the Parkbench visual language and brand identity. Since the main mission of the website is to bring people with different objectives together, we defined the Parkbench color palette which comprises bluish and purplish hues and hints. The logo – accurately reflecting the name of the company – features a park bench in a message cloud icon, the colors of which change based on the color of the background. We used Geometric Sans Serif typefaces since they are derived from simple geometric shapes and structures, adding to the overall minimalist and modern style.
Following a successful implementation of the newly developed Parkbench style, Ester created a set of custom characters that depict members of the three main groups – real estate agents, business owners and local residents. We applied the developed color scheme for the creation of the custom characters providing a more homogenous and uniform look. Each of the characters link the visitors to the pages dedicated to specific target audiences and appear in variations across the website solidifying the connection between the audience and its visual representation and making the user experience more entertaining. On top of that, we also worked on the development of smaller icons used for illustrative and communicative purposes.
Along with custom characters, we worked on the overall design of the Parkbench website. Utilizing the previously established branding tools, we increased the Parkbench recognizability, provided a comprehensive overview of the features offered by Parkbench in a visually compelling way, developed a user-friendly and easy-to-use interface with interactive tools, ensuring that the website will give thorough information on the provided service and will attract new visitors. The users can view the neighborhood with a 360-degree panorama via Google Maps, find their neighborhood webpage, create their own profiles, find local deals, events and news about the area they live in. We made sure that the created website would increase lead generation by adding various custom-designed pop-ups, convenient web forms and structured information blocks.
Together with the illustrations, we also created a few animations, adding delicate hints to the overall brand identity and making the user experience more enjoyable and engaging. Custom made animations and illustrations were used by Parkbench to create a set of marketing materials.
The developed Parkbench website also smoothly transitioned to a mobile format – responsive and user-friendly design relies on scrolling and neatly organized chunks of text, ensuring that the mobile user experience is as interactive and engaging as the website user experience.
The Parkbench team believes that by supporting local businesses and initiatives we create solid and healthy communities where the role of each member can be equally vital to the enhancement of the quality of life. Ester created a responsive and visually appealing website that can help Parkbench spread the idea of the importance of community spirit and harmony.
