Evolving an established brand online

Every so often, a project comes along that isn’t about creating something completely new. Instead, it’s about bringing years of growth, multiple audiences and separate digital experiences together into one cohesive platform.

That’s exactly what we were asked to do when working with Helen Browning’s Organic who, for over 20 years, has been the leading UK organic pork and beef producer.

Rather than starting with a blank sheet of paper, our challenge was to evolve an established brand while making the existing website significantly easier to use. Helen had already developed a strong visual identity for her products which was apparent on the packaging. Instead of reinventing this, we worked within her existing design framework, used her established logos, colour palette and brand assets to create a website that felt instantly familiar.

But that was just for the bit you saw – the real transformation happened behind the scenes…

Four websites became one

Over time, separate websites had been developed for different parts of the organisation – the farm, the pub, the online shop and a separate e-commerce area for wholesale customers. Each served its own purpose, but moving between them could feel disjointed for visitors. Elements you’d expect to be static (such as the top navigation) weren’t, and therefore what should have felt like one site, didn’t.

Our goal was to bring these together into a single website that allowed customers to move naturally between different areas of the business while maintaining a consistent user experience throughout.

Initially, we spent a lot of time working with wireframes – see why we love wireframes – developing the structure of the site and trying to create overarching navigation elements which could be applied to all pages and which allowed seamless transition between the different areas. Each area also needed its own internal set of navigation elements and we needed to be careful this didn’t make the site too busy and therefore tricky to use.

Testing with focus groups allowed us to suggest several options, and we chose and refined the most popular.

For visitors, it now feels like one organisation rather than several connected websites.

Designing for the way people browse today

Like many established websites, the original digital experience had grown over time. One of our biggest priorities was improving usability, particularly on mobile devices.

The data we’ve collected from the hundreds of clients we work with shows a consistent pattern – around 55 – 65% of visitors arrive on a phone rather than a desktop computer. That meant rethinking navigation, simplifying page layouts and ensuring key information is easier to find with fewer taps and less scrolling.

Every design decision was made with the user journey in mind, helping visitors discover products, find information about the farm or explore the food & accommodation options in the pub without feeling lost.

Respecting an established brand

One of the most rewarding aspects of this project was finding the balance between modernising the website and respecting a well-established brand.

Good web design isn’t always about introducing bold new colours or dramatic visual changes. Sometimes it’s about understanding what already works, preserving the character people recognise, and improving the experience without making it feel unfamiliar.

By carefully applying existing brand assets across the new site, we were able to create a digital experience that feels contemporary while remaining unmistakably Helen Browning’s Organic.

Building for the future

Consolidating multiple websites into a single platform doesn’t just improve the visitor experience. It also makes ongoing management far simpler.

Content can be managed in one place, branding stays consistent across every section, and future development becomes much easier than maintaining several separate websites.

Projects like this remind us that successful web design isn’t measured by how different a website looks – it’s measured by how well it works for the people using it.

We’re proud to have helped Helen Browning’s Organic bring together the many parts of their business into one cohesive digital experience, creating a website that’s easier to use, simpler to manage and ready for the future.

Do have a look at their site and then consider getting in touch if you think we could help with yours.