CASE STUDY
Slow perfumery, sold direct
A perfume shop that leads with the scent, not the price, and offers a sample set instead of discounts.
THE PROBLEM
Olfactory is a small perfumery. The range is small and not cheap, and a website cannot let you smell anything.
THE DECISIONS
Each decision, why I made it, and what it cost.
When the price comes first, people judge the value. When the notes come first, they imagine the scent.
Each card reads scent family, name, then price, with the name in display italic and the family as a small tag above it.
Five samples for thirty five pounds lowers the risk of a first order. The set includes twenty percent off a full bottle, so the range is never discounted.
The set has its own page and a builder: take a ready made set or pick any five.
Many product grids swap the price for an add to bag button on hover, and the layout jumps under the cursor.
Price and button share one fixed height slot and fade between each other, so the grid never moves.
The perfume needs a romantic voice and the checkout needs a practical one.
Cormorant Garamond holds the names, the notes and the writing about each scent. Jost handles prices, labels, navigation and every form field.
One accent keeps the paper and ink palette quiet so the photography leads.
Gold is also the focus outline, set once for the whole site, so every interactive element has a visible focus state.
THE SCREENS
THE DESIGN SYSTEM
Paper and ink with one gold accent, and a firm split between the typeface for the perfume and the typeface for the shop.
Cormorant Garamond
Names, notes and scent descriptions. Weights 300 to 600 with italics, headings at 300 with tight line spacing.
Jost
Prices, labels, navigation, buttons and forms. Weights 300 to 500.
HOW IT WAS BUILT
THE OUTCOME
