In 2010 Simple Elegance first asked Turbocatalyst to design and build a web presence that reflects their approach to creating gemstone jewelry.  They travel widely both to find spectacular indigenous rocks and to purchase stones one by one, often from miners, prospectors or their direct agents.  As artisans hand crafting each piece, they share narratives detailing both the stones and the techniques that they use to create pieces that their clientele love.  At Turbocatalyst our job is to to create authentic visualizations in digital and print media that faithfully evoke these emotional connections to their handmade one-of-a-kind and limited edition pieces.

Our first challenge was to devise and execute photographic techniques to let light emphasize the unique qualities of each singular stone, to build context as they endeavor to tell the backstories that make Simple Elegance pieces so special to their owners.

We worked with them to develop meaningful categories to group their offerings of favorite types of stones.  The in-depth information about each piece found both in descriptions in the online store and in the homepage testimonials single out specific items to demonstrate the timeless value of their unique wearable gemstone creations.

Simple Elegance is an ideal client, utterly determined to provide us with every advantage to position this web and rebranding project for success.

We were encouraged to apply our passion for the most spectacular photographic presentations of the jewelry into every detail of the brand's visual strategy.  Our client was an excellent collaborator, working with us through the many revisions necessary to achieve this goal.  They were engaged continually, prolific in their constructive feedback, and thrilled by unexpected subtle features of the site that reinforce their brand's freshness and originality.  The result of this collaboration provides customers and prospects alike with an intuitively simple yet highly refined shopping experience.