Design & Dev Studio
Design & Dev Studio
Sun Noodle is one of the global leaders in ramen, with an inspirational story that starts with their founder Hidehito moving from Japan to Hawai’i with just a noodle machine and a dream. Drawn Agency approached us to assist during their brand refresh project for Sun Noodle to bring their digital presence into alignment with the new brand.
Challenge
As Sun Noodle grew beyond Hawai’i into the mainland US and into Europe, their digital presence had begun to fragment. They maintained several different websites segmented by region, and had a hard time communicating their inspirational story and expertise of craft ramen.
Objective
They had a trade show approaching in 6 weeks and wanted a fresh website to highlight their new packaging that could grow to consolidate all of their websites into one cohesive site. We broke the project into two milestones: showcase the new packaging for their signature line before the tradeshow, and consolidate the online presence after.
Understanding the problem: By conducting research and discovery of their online presence and leading them through workshops, we helped them articulate the story of the brand that they wanted to tell. Prioritizing the most important pages for the trade show, we mapped out the structure of the site to allow for rebuilding those pages and cross linking to the old site for the remaining pages.
Designing the approach: Given that our audience ranges from consumers to potential distributors, we needed to ensure all parts of the site were interconnected. We created a welcoming "landing" home page where visitors could choose the information they wanted to access. Additionally, we incorporated sections that connected with the pages from the old site. The design drew inspiration from the product's packaging, along with influences from manga, Japanese, and Hawaiian art.
Implementing the site: We were focused on telling a story and emphasizing the new branding for one of their product lines. Given the heavy use of imagery, videos, and animations, we were aware this could potentially slow down the site. To mitigate this, we used best practices for performance, accessibility, and SEO. This included reducing database roundtrips with a static site, lazy loading for images and videos, and a strategic content caching approach.
Architecting the CMS: They prioritized ease of editing, so the site was constructed using a content management system for easier long-term maintenance. Considering the CMS editor's experience is as crucial as the user interface experience, we designed the CMS to offer a streamlined and intuitive editing process.