Tony's
Chocolonely
Front‑end development for Tony's Chocolonely's website and Chocoshop rebuild, using Node.js, Sass, and GSAP to create animated templates for integration into Laravel.
In Detail
New vs. Old
By 2017, Tony's original WordPress website no longer reflected the scale or personality of the brand, and its non‑responsive, slow‑loading front end had become increasingly limiting.
The replacement introduced a far more flexible, animated experience built around Tony's distinctive visual identity, mission‑led content, and growing e‑commerce requirements.
A Colourful, Animated Experience
The website was structured around three distinct areas: mission content to the left in red, the Chocoshop to the right in white, and the main homepage in blue. Large arrow‑based navigation and animated page transitions created the feeling of moving laterally between them.
GSAP animation extended that sense of movement across the wider interface, with scroll and mouse interactions helping the digital experience feel closer to Tony's physical brand world.
The Chocoshop
The Chocoshop balanced product discovery with Tony's wider brand messaging. Product listing and product detail pages used a cleaner white background, allowing the colour and irregular shape of the chocolate bars to carry the visual identity.
Product listing pages combined a distinctive product spinner with a more conventional grid, filtering, and direct add‑to‑basket functionality.
Products in Detail
Product detail pages were responsively designed around product imagery, bar size, purchase options, and brand messaging, keeping the buying journey clear without losing Tony's distinctive campaign‑led tone.
Fun Alongside a Serious Message
The 'Our Mission' page gave visitors a deeper view of Tony's work against exploitation in the cocoa industry. The challenge was to communicate a serious, hard‑hitting message without losing the brand's playful character, using JavaScript‑driven stop‑frame animation to add movement and emphasis.
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I worked with John Kavanagh at AND Digital for a client focusing on the development of web pages through Gatsby and Contentful. His experience and skill definitely showed but alongside that he was enjoyable to work with. He was always available to the team in any capacity; whether that be to help get a ticket over the line or to teach new ways of doing things. My time with John has personally been a great learning experience and I hope to work with him again in the future."
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John Kavanagh is an incredibly talented and efficient developer with great expertise in Gatsby and Contentful. He is incredibly personable and also always willing to share his knowledge. I also appreciated his ability to communicate openly and in a way that allowed me to find a way forward with him.
It was a pleasure to work with John and I would welcome another opportunity to work with him again!"
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John Kavanagh is a highly intelligent and truly senior front‑end web developer, who's surprisingly well versed in the arcana of CSS. For Macmillan he was initially churning out static templates on an SCSS BEM architecture, but soon moved on to managing the team (three developers), assigning and tracking tasks using a Trello board he introduced, and helping me nudge the team towards an integrated, Web Components based production pipeline. I enjoyed John's productivity and attitude, and I very much look forward to working together again."
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John Kavanagh is a passionate and highly skilled developer with a wonderful ability to calmly concede downward business pressures whilst pragmatically delivering the project at hand.
John is never fazed by project management/requirement issues as are common in these environments, instead, he always finds a way to deliver value to both the end consumer and the business. It's not always easy to remain level‑headed and calm on high‑pressure projects but John's good nature and professionalism invariably remain infallible. It's an absolute pleasure working with him."
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I had the pleasure of working closely with John Kavanagh at Selfridges. He is an exceptional programmer who consistently delivered high‑quality work. John possesses a deep understanding of exceptional front‑end development skills and has a remarkable ability to tackle complex problems with creative and effective solutions.
What sets John apart is not only his technical expertise but also his strong work ethic and dedication to delivering results. He is a reliable and proactive team player, always willing to go the extra mile to ensure project success. I was particularly impressed with his ability to help with issues and make the explanations simple and succinct.
Beyond his technical skills, John is a pleasure to work with. He communicates effectively, collaborates seamlessly with team members, and approaches challenges with a positive and solution‑oriented mindset."
