Gallery Delarue
2019
Designing Gallery Delarue’s website around its art and events
Gallery Delarue is an events-led art space. As lead designer, I helped the owners agree what the gallery stands for, then decide what the first version of its website should do.
Brief
An events-led gallery that needed a stronger online presence
Gallery Delarue is an art space that runs exhibitions, workshops and events. In 2019 it needed a stronger online presence. Event bookings went through third-party services, taking revenue away from the gallery, and it wanted better content, stronger merchandise sales and closer ties with the people who came to its events.
The gallery was a client of XOX Digital, the studio I co-founded. As lead designer, I ran discovery with the owners and defined the site’s structure and interface, working with Joe, one of the gallery’s co-founders, who built the site.
Identity
Agreeing what the gallery stands for
I started with conversations with the owners, then a three-day workshop on the gallery’s identity, its community and where they wanted it to go. Together we wrote a short brand statement: authentic art for culture lovers, presented with an unapologetic voice. It became the test for every later decision.
Priorities
Deciding what to build first
We scored ideas for awareness, efficiency and revenue on how much the gallery wanted them and how achievable they were. The first release centred on the homepage, editorial content, event booking on the site and the shop. Member profiles, brand partnerships, artist merchandise and virtual events went on the roadmap.
A review of five art platforms and galleries, including Artsy and Artfinder, suggested the gallery’s artist relationships and live events were where it could stand apart.
Audience
Designing for artists as well as art lovers
A journey map traced how people discover the gallery, book, buy and come back between events.
Four working profiles, from an artist presenting exhibitions to a traveller looking for events in each city, helped us check priorities. They were working tools, not research-backed personas.
Design
A simple structure that keeps the art in front
The site has three levels: a homepage bringing together events, editorial and merchandise, detail pages for each artwork or event, and the essentials such as basket and checkout.
Booking was designed into the site, so visitors no longer left for a third-party service. With little content at launch, every content type shared one page. A bold homepage, a block layout that keeps the art in front and one media component for images, GIFs and video gave the gallery room to grow.
Launch
Refining the design and launching the site
We shared progress in InVision, so the owners and Joe could give quick feedback as the work moved.
I wrote a style guide for Joe covering colours, typography and buttons. In testing, the transparent layered effect we wanted couldn’t be built, so we reworked the approach together to keep the site clear without it.
The site went live with event booking on the site itself, editorial content and a shop.
What I learned
Agreeing the brand statement first made later decisions easier to settle. When an idea came up, we could ask whether it fitted the gallery’s voice and whether it was achievable now.
