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Mermaid Cookware

- Samuel Groves' online store

Mermaid Cookware was one of the first sites I designed after joining Hughes Rae, and the first online store. Trying to marry my design with the constraints of the software used to build the shop was a challenge, to say the least, particularly as I had wanted to get away from the linear look of the web and have flowing, watery shapes on the screen. Well, at least I kept that look on the first couple of pages!

The '3-D' mermaid was created in Metacreations' 'Poser 3', heavily modified in Photoshop. I particularly like the effect on the 'splash' page below (very apt name in this case) of the mermaid coming to life out of the 2D logo (it's quite rare that a client will allow the designer to take liberties with the company logo like this, so I was quite pleased when it made the final version of the site!)

Our friendly mermaid swims throughout the site in the headers of the pages, which have a flowing, organic feel and a nice, informal font style. We also thought that calling the usual 'shopping basket' a 'treasure chest' was fun, but sadly the actual treasure chest image never made it to the site.

Originally, the mermaid was a classic sea-nymph whose modesty was only retained by strategic strands of hair. The client wanted her to be 'clothed' in the companies corporate colours; I had to talk them out of having her looking like a cheerleader, though, to keep the effect subtle.

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