Gardner first approached us in early 2005 with a view to building them a leading-edge web site that would feature their entire product catalogue and allow them to add a variety of article and multimedia content as and when they needed to.

The First Cast

At the time, OS commerce extension OSC max was decided upon as the best and most flexible way of providing all the functionality that Gardner needed. We chose it for it's relatively easy custom interface design, modular approach, and integration potential with various external systems.

Gardner were clear that they wanted a site that was noticeably better and more visually dynamic than those of their competition, and they were very keen on animation, so we chose to extensively incorporate flash elements into a completely bespoke design.

This included 4 themes, all based on underwater environments, and all of which would feature independent but linked flash animation work for maximum visual appeal. We designed all of these scenes, which included the underwater views of a lake, a large urban river bed, open ocean, and a deep loch. These were deployed around various sections of the site and catalogue, and we developed a system where the client could choose which layout was used on which pages.

Tightening Lines

The site was developed in around 2 months, and went live to great acclaim in the fishing community. In addition to the main product catalogue, the site featured a huge number of articles and video content, and we often revisited parts of the site to update design, adding new functionality, and training new members of staff in site administration. During this time we were often engaged by the client to design various print and advertising graphics, and worked on aspects as diverse as the cover for their 2007 printed catalogue, and a unique woodland camouflage pattern that would be used in their merchandising material.

Angling Evolved...

In early 2010, it was decided that the Gardner website was starting to look a bit dated, and other sites were appearing that were more modern in design, so we were approached to suggest ways of bringing the look and feel up to latest standards to once again make GT one of the best fishing web sites in the world. Whilst we did suggest moving the framework to more modern counterpart Magento, it was eventually decided to just revamp the design of the site within its existing framework to minimise the amount of content that had to be re-done to work in a new environment.

As we were now more concerned about general site speed and consistency, we elected to take just one of the original river scenes, and work with that throughout the entire site, but then to modernise all the surrounding elements and use less flash work so that everything loaded more quickly whilst still looking very modern and designed. The 'centre box' area of the site was enlarged throughout so Gardner had more room to insert, and could better present ever-evolving content.

Reeling In The Future

We have developed a long standing and close working relationship with Gardner and have plans to serve them well into the future, re-inventing the web site whenever it needs doing, and working closely with their team to implement useful new features, and later a brand new framework. We are currently working on upgrading their multi-language capabilities. With our help, Gardner will continue to be at the leading edge of online angling resources.