Website-catalogue of antiques Watel antik: retro style, “picture” design and about 1500 exclusive items

Antique gallery Watel antik is a part of the Maison Watel group of companies with representations in Ukraine, Austria, and France. Most of the compositions in the gallery are a private collection gathered over many years of working with valuable and exclusive antiques from various corners of Europe.

The web studio Business Site received a request to create a catalog website where antique enthusiasts can: explore more than 1000 lots, find information about the gallery’s activities, and delve into the history of antiques from different European countries in the “History of Antiques” section (Blog).

Unique Request Features:

• The design of the catalog website should be: dignified, aristocratic, intimate, and exclusive. Retro style has been chosen for the website’s design.
• The website should provide two options for purchasing a lot: adding to “Favorites” and sending a quick inquiry via the “Price on Request” button.

Audience of the antique gallery:

Women and men aged 45-60 are interested in antiques and are looking for exclusive items to add to their own collections (with the provision of an official passport).

Clear Technical Requirements with Key Development Demands:

• Since the catalog website offers expensive exclusive items, words and phrases like “Sale,” “Discount,” “Special Offer,” and “Promotion” are prohibited.
• The existing corporate style of the gallery needed changes, including the addition of a new color, “sea wave,” for the central letter W in the logo.
• The text on the website should be large.
• Banners and the main sections of the website should be designed as picture frames.

What the Business Site Team Accomplished:

1. Competitor analysis: Given the specific niche of the client, a thorough examination of the strengths and weaknesses of competitors was conducted. Based on the analysis, a technical task was created for the further development of the catalog website.
2. Development of a technical task: The client’s wishes and recommendations from specialists at the Business Site web studio were taken into account during development.
3. SEO optimization of the homepage and individual pages of the website for effective indexing with primary keywords.
4. Prototype and final design development: The main corporate colors of the gallery and the logo served as the basis. Main colors: beige, dark blue, gold, bronze. Banners, section titles, lot photos, and buttons such as “Other Publications,” “All Projects and Services,” and “Price on Request” have framing resembling picture frames. When the cursor is placed over a frame with an image of a lot, a clickable title is displayed for detailed description access. Changes were made to the existing logo.
5. Layout: Responsive web design was implemented for correct display of all website sections and functions on both mobile phones and PCs.
6. Programming: The catalog website was placed on the OpenCart CMS and transferred to the main domain.
7. Testing: A tester verified the correct operation of each individual section, including the integrity of links and the callback request function.
8. Creation of instructions for the client on working with website editing through the administrator panel: adding new products, making adjustments to specific pages and product cards, editing texts, and populating the “History of Antiques” section (Blog).

Results Achieved by the Business Site Team:

A catalog website has been created for an international antique gallery in line with the existing corporate style. The website is responsive, with all functions accessible on both mobile phones and PCs.
To order a catalog website or a corporate website for your company with detailed individual design, structure, and functionality, you can submit a request on the Business Site web studio’s website.