Red
Central
Built using Gatsby, TypeScript, GraphQL, and Contentful. This is a bold, media‑rich website designed and developed to help bring the talent, personality, and passion of this creative studio online.
In Detail
I have worked with Mike Etheridge many times over the years. A very talented designer, he produces bold, image‑led and sometimes technically challenging designs which are a pleasure to work with – just as long as you get the development right!
It is fair to say this needed meticulous attention to detail and pixel‑perfect interpretation of the designs. The final product is the new Red Central website – a dynamic, image‑led build based on Gatsby and using Contentful (via GraphQL) to allow the client complete control over their website and content.
Using React and SCSS, the front end makes extensive use of CSS Grid for layout and image‑loading techniques to improve the site's speed whilst still delivering the high‑quality and complex imagery required to really show off the agency's creative talent and aptitude.
Homepage
Wanting a bold and impactful first impression of the site, the homepage hero uses a set of sequenced CSS Animations to bring each aspect into view before then scrolling through a set of stylised descriptions of the agency, from 'Game Changing Creative', to 'The Pop Culture Geeks'. Immediately below is the first peek at their body of work.
Services
Red Central's service offerings are vast and nuanced in the creative space, requiring a little explanation to general website visitors. Using an animated carousel alongside some of their most well‑recognised imagery allowed them the space they needed to tell their story and sell their services.
Life at Red
The use of bold messaging alongside their work is a theme throughout the site. The client can switch out the hero image on their Life at Red page to whatever they please via Contentful. This combination works well in introducing a space where the team can showcase their personality and culture on their own terms.
Work List
The Work page is again fully customisable by the client, featuring an image‑focused design to show off their work. The sheer size of imagery on this page meant that careful optimisation and staggered, fade‑up loading was needed to give the visitor a smooth and consistent experience.
Project Pages
Following the theme of bold messaging and image‑heavy design, the Project pages follow a similar recipe. The client can manage more or less every aspect of these pages via Contentful, using the imagery and wording they feel most reflects their involvement. They can, of course, also add new projects as and when they please.
Contact Page
Rather than using a generic contact form, Red Central preferred email addresses and telephone numbers on their Contact Us page. This left plenty of space on the page to embed a characterful looping video showing off their offices and working environment.
