Ian Hopkinson, of Hopkinson Music, approached Graphic Edge Design requesting a website that was playful and easy to navigate but stylish and informative. The main goal of the website was to promote Ian’s music and provide viewers with details of upcoming shows and merchandise.

Initial Meeting
To our initial meeting, Ian brought with him a number of professional photos that he wanted incorporated into the design. Several of these photos were portraits of Ian holding a tea cup. We agreed to use the tea cup concept as the basis of the site.

From this meeting, we established a project brief and discussed the requirements for setting up a website. Ian approved the registration of his domain name and hosting set up.

Design Concept
After developing a project brief, three design options were created & presented to Ian for further discussion. Figure 1 was the concept chosen by Ian to be developed as the Home page for the site.

To explain to Ian the user interactivity on the Home page and the progression from the Home page to another page, we produced a number of interface images based on the Home page concept. These designs were then used as templates for building the remaining pages.

To engage the user, bring a playful element into the design and give the tea cups in Ian’s photos a greater purpose we suggested a number of ‘Little Ians’ appear inside the tea cups. As the user moves their mouse over each tea cup link, Ian, in the main graphic, changes position interacting with the 'Little Ians' inside the tea cup he is holding.

View the Home page. Note that the links on the Home page are not operational. This version had been created to help explain the concept.