Volcom

ProjectFocus

Fashion+Apparel
Retail+eCommerce

Volcom

/ Overview

volcom.com — A new eCommerce website built to bring the brand and its products to the creative community.

Experience Strategy
Content Strategy
Content Guidelines
Creative Direction
UI/UX Design
Art Direction
Accessibility + SEO
Style Guide
Creative Engineering
Technical Consulting

View live site

Challenge

Volcom is a lifestyle brand that emerged out of Southern California’s surf and skate scene in the early ‘90s. Since its inception, it has focused on channeling creativity through art, music, films, athletics, and clothing.

However, with a lack of wholesale and traditional retail opportunities in recent years, a focus on direct-to-consumer was necessary in order to expand the brand’s reach to new audiences.

Approach

As a brand historically associated with the declining action sports industry, our goal was to create a revamped design system and shopping experience aimed at inspiring a broader audience.

We worked closely with its internal brand and eCommerce teams to develop a rejuvenated visual system that focuses on paying tribute to its rich creative heritage.

BASIC/DEPT®

/ UX Design

Experience Design

With continually shifting trends in style, cultural attitudes, shopping preferences, and social currency, we saw an opportunity to refine the Volcom brand through its digital experience.

By focusing on a brand-driven and product-centric user experience, we set out to build an emotional connection between the brand and the new generation of Volcom Stone fans.

Focusing on experience through responsive strategy.

The entire site is designed responsively with adaptations to the user journey across mobile, tablet, and desktop. Our goal was to provide the optimal browsing experience while maintaining the primary features and site content regardless of form factor.

Celebrating Volcom’s creative DNA.

We wanted to highlight Volcom’s creative personality and commitment to individual expression. These two aspects were critical to building a brand experience that united product and content. Heavily rooted in Volcom’s progressive, artistic roots, the graphic-heavy visual language utilizes bold textures, handcrafted details, dynamic image compositions, and organic module structures to create an environment that celebrates individuality and authenticity.

Establishing photography standards and art direction.

Volcom’s audience gravitates toward visuals that are candid and self-produced. Reflecting this street aesthetic, we adopted elements of collage and photocopy as elements to define eCommerce photography standards and product presentation.

01/07

DragDragDrag

Rooting the experience in visual discovery.

We wanted to create a guided site experience that was more visual and lifestyle-focused. After mapping the experience data and reviewing analytics, our insights urged us to treat category pages as homepages. Doing so helped provide more context and brand merchandising for the user during their shopping journey.

Creating flexible and educational product pages.

Our product pages blend utility, inspiration, and information to drive conversion by exceeding consumer expectations. Product imagery is always in view, and pertinent information rewards the user while appealing to their explorative lifestyle.

Building a brand community through content.

One of our primary goals was to build a proper home for the Volcom community. We set out to broaden the brand’s reach beyond coastal cities by showcasing its dedication to creativity and exemplifying its brand philosophy of being “True to This.”

Blending content and commerce, the site enables the audience to connect emotionally with the brand and organically discover content, including behind-the-scenes moments as well as insights from its roster of brand ambassadors.