BookSluts
Creating a bold brand and web experience to celebrate stories and grow a thriving book club.
Background
My friends and I decided to start a book club to stay sane during the pandemic. I saw an opportunity to design a brand that reflects our values and a website to celebrate the books we’ve read, in the hopes of inspiring participation and engagement.
Skills
- Brand Identity,
- Web Design,
- Web Development
Tools
- Figma,
- GSAP,
- 11ty,
- Barba.js,
- Locomotive Scroll,
- Netlify CMS
Branding
I wanted the brand to be bold and memorable, while also conveying a sense of inclusivity, and community. I drew inspiration from the club's contemporary book selection and created a visual language that with as much sass as the characters in the books we read.
What started off as a funny joke, turned into something we could all rally behind. Book Sluts caught everyones attention, put a smile on all of our faces and made us nod simultaneously. Thats when we knew we had our name.
For our brand identity, I sought to create a mark that's both bold and playful, blending contrasting symbols for a fresh and familiar feel. Delving into research, I discovered that The Rolling Stones' iconic tongue logo pays homage to the goddess Kali, symbolizing feminine energy and empowerment. This resonated deeply, aligning perfectly with our book club's mission to celebrate and amplify women's voices through our reading choices.
Website
The web design experience for the BookSluts website is heavily inspired by print magazines and editorial design. From the striking contrast in typefaces to the generous use of white space, the horizontal scroll, and vibrant hues, each element was meticulously crafted to evoke the essence of bold, captivating print media.
Web Development
One of my goals was to develop a unique experience that was delightful to use but also try out different libraries and tech expand my development skills. This website uses libraries like GSAP, BarbaJS, Locomotive Scroll and other industry-standard libraries to build a smooth and enjoying web experience. I later converted the site to 11ty, and used Netlify CMS which has made including new books onto the site a breeze.
Future Considerations
Considering the failure rate of book clubs within the first year to be around 20%, I think for us to still be going strong after 4 years means the project was a success.
In the future, I hope to expand the website to include Amazon affiliate store links to purchase the book, and email newsletters for users that want to follow along and get notified when we’ve read a new book.
