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My First Squarespace Design for Friend's Restaurant

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Posted (edited)

Site URL: https://www.knottedapron.com/

Hi there! I'm an account manager for a creative agency as my day job but I'm fairly tech savvy and familiar, though by no means an expert, with basic web design elements and design best practices. Any and all feedback is appreciated!

This is my first squarespace website! My friends own a restaurant in the very "foodie" city of Portland, ME. Their previous branding and web design was outsourced on fiverr and felt very low-end. They wanted a website that was clean, easy to navigate and refined. Their biggest priorities were having reservations easily accessible, gift cards available, and an easy template to update their menu .pdf which is constantly changing.

The restaurant is more of a "neigborhood bistro" but the food is very refined and they make everything from scratch. They see themselves as a more casual restaurant that gives diners access to the same seasonal, local, high-end food as the rest of the city but in a more relaxed and intimate environment.

This website served as design inspiration - https://bestiala.com/. In our current theme I can only feature one standalone "button" on the far right for gift cards but I'd love to include reservations over there as well, separate from the rest of the header menu. (This button currently not live while we figure out gift cards).

SIDE NOTE - This website https://www.twelvemaine.com/ for another restaurant in town has some design elements that I really like. If anyone knows how to achieve that kind of dynamic background imagery that "moves" when you scroll I'd love to incorporate that!

Edited by Aglapa
Posted (edited)

I think your site out does bestiala.com by far. Sure makes me want to eat at the Knotted Apron. Twelvemaine is also a Squarespace 7.1 site and you should be able to create the moving background with some code. I suspect that some of our better coders here can help you with that. 

Edited by derricksrandomviews
  • 4 weeks later...
Posted

I love it! The images are amazing!

I have done quite a few restaurant websites and have utilized their images by doing a scrolling banner of images (either the list section or Will Meyers scrolling banner code) or a video if they have that content set as the first section to add in some movement!

Another thing we’ve done is created their menu in Canva and embed it into the site so when then make changes to it in Canva it would automatically update on the website! ☺️

Posted
On 11/5/2022 at 12:50 AM, dreyahb said:

I love it! The images are amazing!

I have done quite a few restaurant websites and have utilized their images by doing a scrolling banner of images (either the list section or Will Meyers scrolling banner code) or a video if they have that content set as the first section to add in some movement!

Another thing we’ve done is created their menu in Canva and embed it into the site so when then make changes to it in Canva it would automatically update on the website! ☺️

Thank you so much! Luckily one of the servers also moonlights as a photographer! Are you sure it's not too simple on the homepage? I wanted it to be simple but also elegant.

I'm working with a designer behind the scenes to get some design elements created including custom fonts so we don't have to rely on the fonts that came with the template, I think that will go a long way. My hesitation with the scrolling banner is I want the header to continue to be fixed at the top as you scroll down and also to be part of the header image and not its own block. Can you keep the header as part of a scrolling banner? Also if you have any recommendations on background imagery that wouldn't detract from the text in front of it that I can apply some movement effects to that would be great. Example of that on the Twelve Maine site I linked to.

GREAT call on canva, right now we're doing the menu on indesign, that could be super helpful to us and also make it look more elegant on the site!

  • 1 month later...
Posted (edited)

I recommend making the Menu and Drinks text on the Home page static instead of hover text — it took several scrolls through the site for me to realize that there were links there. The menu is important so it should be clear and easy to find!

You can use the Menu Block to type the menu content directly onto the page. This will help with accessibility, so the content can be accessed by those with screen readers!

- Hannah
Studio Founded

Edited by studiofounded

A brand designer & strategist creating brands that bridge the gaps between artistry, strategy, and thoughtful consideration. Creator of Studio Founded, a digital resource library for purposeful business owners. 
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