ERA
OVERVIEW
Aiming to deliver the brand promise of ERA Department Stores, we built a brand new website, delivering a unique online shopping experience. Our focus was the modern aesthetic and colour scheme reflecting ERA’s revived branding philosophy: Fresh, Dynamic, and Forward Thinking.
CLIENT
ERA
YEAR
2020
THE
CLIENT
Originally Debenhams Cyprus, ERA is a leading department store chain in Cyprus that offers a unique mix of globally renowned beauty and fashion brands – a curated edit of current trends in women’s, men’s and kid’s fashion, accessories, home décor, and toys. Their stores have been designed to deliver a contemporary lifestyle experience to customers – a place where art, culture, theatre, innovative architecture, and the latest fashion trends merge.
As a result of significant changes in global shopping trends and radical changes in consumer behaviours, the ERMES Group (the retail arm of the CTC Group of Companies, one of Cyprus’ leading retailers) repositioned and rebranded the Debenhams department stores to ERA in 2020. The rebranding strategy and new identity were inspired by the spirit of the island, the continuously evolving contemporary lifestyle here, and the bringing together of people into a new generation of department stores, a place that celebrates creativity, diversity, art, beauty, discovery, and culture.
THE
CHALLENGE
ERA wanted us to design an informational website with a visual style and colour palette that accurately reflected its personality and new branding philosophy. With a revived focus on a younger demographic, the graphical language and identity of the brand on the site needed to encompass the lifestyle and social trends of today, with an energetic and modern look and feel. The user experience also needed to be engaging, intuitive, and easy to navigate. Navigation on the site needed to be easy and intuitive across multiple screens and devices and access to ERA’s large collection of products had to be quick and seamless. Drop-down menus had to be properly categorised so that a search for a particular style of fashion was simple and uncomplicated.
THE
DESIGN
Fashion oriented websites rely on the aesthetic power of photographs, hero images and video to draw attention and showcase their products. Our task was to find visuals that presented the different brands, look books and ERA department stores in a way that engaged visitors for long enough online to want to see all the collections.
THE
DESIGN
Fashion oriented websites rely on the aesthetic power of photographs, hero images and video to draw attention and showcase their products. Our task was to find visuals that presented the different brands, look books and ERA department stores in a way that engaged visitors for long enough online to want to see all the collections.
Brand Categorization
Brands categorised according to styles of fashion, with easy access to all categories. Clickable brand icons lead site visitors to look-books showcasing a brand’s latest collections.
Brand Directory
An easy to use brand directory enables site visitors to search for brands by category or alphabetically.
OUR
SOLUTION
We designed ERA’s website using an editorial approach with beautiful images that linked back to the different brands. Each editorial section made use of compelling photographs that served as CTA’s across the site, driving customers to want to click and explore. We also used a colour scheme that accurately conveys the new character and spirit of the rebrand.
OUR
SOLUTION
We designed ERA’s website using an editorial approach with beautiful images that linked back to the different brands. Each editorial section made use of compelling photographs that served as CTA’s across the site, driving customers to want to click and explore. We also used a colour scheme that accurately conveys the new character and spirit of the rebrand.
