Like David and Goliath: Small design agency designs Pilatus Flugzeugwerke website
After a good twelve months of close cooperation between Pilatus Flugzeugwerke AG and Januar Designbureau, the completely revised corporate website of the Stans-based aircraft manufacturer went online in August. An example of how a small design agency can hold its own in the market.
Emotional with a generous amount of images, puristic in its design concept and technologically state-of-the-art, the online presence underlines the values of the world-renowned Swiss aircraft manufacturer Pilatus Flugzeugwerke AG.
How to win an agency evaluation as a small design agency....
In a multi-stage agency evaluation, January Designbureau prevailed over numerous competitors. "We spoke the same language from the very beginning and appreciated the goal-oriented collaboration at eye level. Januar understood how to convey the perfect mix of high-end technology and our Swiss values in design." This is how Fabiola Felber, Project Manager Online Marketing, explains the choice of the Zurich-based design and digital agency. The fact that a small and thus very personal agency was chosen was a conscious decision of the international corporation and corresponds to the almost family-like corporate culture of Pilatus, the statement of the design agency continues. It was clear from the outset that the web relaunch, like the aircraft, would bear the "Crafted in Switzerland" label. Fredy Espejo of Januar Designbureau sees the successful bid as an incentive for small agencies to actively participate in tenders from large companies.
International orientation
In joint workshops at the headquarters in Stans, the project team first identified the needs of the various stakeholders such as the sales teams of the different markets and aircraft types, marketing or human resources. This was followed by an analysis of the international aviation competitive environment. However, pages from neighboring sectors such as the automotive industry also served as a benchmark for the design and interaction design. Objectives such as a navigation hierarchy that is as flat as possible and generous image components served as conceptual cornerstones for the development of the content and the subsequent creation phase.
The new international website was to create a strong, emotional user experience and convey the fascination of flying. With this in mind, January's designers have further developed the Pilatus brand for the digital flight space in a contemporary way. Addressing both the target group of military training aircraft and lifestyle/business customers, without losing focus of the Swissness of the Pilatus brand for even a moment, was the requirement for Emanuel Gürth, Senior Designer, when developing the look & feel.
The central importance of mobile use is taken into account by a fully responsive implementation. Contrary to the mobile-first trend, the design started with the largest desktop version in order to be able to define an effective visual language as soon as possible and to develop a clear design concept with atmosphere, Fredy Espejo explains this conscious decision. In this case, the subsequent reduction to mobile was the leaner and more targeted method, according to the design agency's considerations. The collaboration included the conceptual support, the entire design process and the complete front-end programming.
Source: www.januar.ch
