Hey Joe Studio | Web design awesomeness

Hey Joe Studio

Specialising in digital design and development projects, working in London, partnering with clients in the UK and beyond.

The Anchor & Hope Pub

Web design

Web development

www.anchorandhopepub.co.uk

The Anchor & Hope is a multi award-winning gastro pub in London Waterloo, close to the Old Vic and New Vic theatres. Despite being in business for over a decade, this website is their first ever web presence.

Working with the Anchor & Hope team I develped a brief to create a simple design framework that could be re-purposed by the pub’s sister venues, including Great Queen Street Restaurant and The Magdalen Arms. The ability to publish daily menus with ease was another key requirement.

The result was a modest and simple approach, utilising a framework that could be repurposed across all three sites. The designs aim to showcase the pubs food, with an emphasis on stunning food photography by Patricia Niven, alonside concise and focussed content.

The Process

The websites are fully responsive, working seamlessly across various devices, from smartphones to desktop computers. After analysing the website analytics for fellow client Le Café Anglais, where mobile usage exceeded 20%, we recognised the importance of a responsive design.

This insight guided critical decisions regarding the user interface. Given the high likelihood of users accessing the site through smartphones, we aimed to minimise the need for multiple page navigation to reach essential information like contact details and opening hours.

In light of this, we strategically placed opening times and contact details on the homepage. Additionally, the contact telephone number is prominently displayed in the header throughout the site, ensuring easy accessibility.

It was agreed that the homepage should have strong visual impact by utilising the greatest asset of all 3 venues: their food. With that in mind the photographer Patricia Niven was commissioned to photograph some of the wonderful menu items to appear on a homepage image scroller.

Staff are able to update daily menus using the content management system by simply copying and pasting the text from the Word documents they use to print menus in-house.