Marketing Factory technically and visually redesigned the PDFlib GmbH website based on the TYPO3 content management system.
The technical redesign included an upgrade from TYPO3 6.2 to TYPO3 8.7 as well as the development of a specialised extension which automatically generates the cookbook contents. Furthermore, Marketing Factory developed a new CI-conform screendesign based on the basics of modern webdesign standards.
In the context of the upgrade to TYPO3 8.7 LTS, the look & feel of the website was to be renewed and modernised. For this reason, Marketing Factory developed a completely new screendesign based on the CI-guidelines. Since June 2018, the new website shines in its clean, modern looking glory.
The key elements of the new website are the returning colourful tiles, which are creating clean structures as well as an overall modern look. The hand-drawn, playful illustrations in each site's header are another important design element.
They were explicitly designed for PDFlib and are creating a connection between the old and the new website as they are serving as a brand recognition feature.
The main visual characteristic of PDFlib's corporate design are the playful illustrations. "Archetipetti" – which are basically reduced characters (such as the lovely PDFlib angel) – are leading the users through the website and serve as an introduction to the different page topics. Those characters were created by Prof. Alessio Leonardi, Professor of visual communication and partner at Lion & Bee in Berlin.
Thankfully, all illustrations were already available as vector graphics, so that we could almost exclusively use SVG-graphics during the set-up of the website. With a few slight adjustments, TYPO3 CMS can deal with SVG image formats. The only aspect to pay closer attention to is making sure, that the vector graphics are not rendered as "responsive images" with different source sets.
Another pleasant side effect of those vector graphics: Due to the tiny image sizes, the website is tremdendously performant, while all of the illustrations are still pin sharp on every device.
