Major Research Project

For this project, I used my research from last semester about how web elements help brand recognition to update the ZD Design and Print website.

Click to visit ZD Design and Print Website

Introduction

The research question for the first section of this research project was: How does the use of various website elements impact the effectiveness of brand recognition. For the main piece research, I chose to conduct a questionnaire to find out the various types of websites that the target audience use on a daily basis and which elements they look for when visiting a new website.

For the second section of this research project, we needed to work on a practical project based on the results from the research conducted during the first semester. For my practical project, I used the results from my research to improve ZD Design and Print’s website. Originally, for this project, I wanted to design a new website for the Royal Logistic Corps Museum in Winchester however, the museum decided to use a different web designer. From this, I then looked at the ZD Design and Print website and noticed that there were many elements that needed to be changed or updated which then led me to using this opportunity for this project.

Objectives

The main aspects of the website that I wanted to focus on were the home page, making sure that the website information was up to date, adding images of clients’ work as examples for future clients and/or customers and updating icons to match the business’s branding. There were also aspects of the website that I wanted to work on as part of this project but were not necessary such as redesigning one of the t-shirt designs, creating polls on social media for product ideas and finding new sale avenues.

Previous research

As previously mentioned, primary research was conducted during the initial research section of this major research project to find what type of websites my target audience use daily and which web elements they look for when visiting a new website. From this research, I found out that, when asked about their favourite websites in terms of layout and overall design, 50% of the participants chose e-commerce websites including HMV, Gymshark, Microsoft.com, Muji and online supermarket websites. 30% of the participants stated that they either do not have a favourite website or do not know. One response in particular stated that they do not have a favourite website in terms of overall design and layout as most of the websites they use have elements that they find frustrating. The last 20% of responses said that they prefer social media platforms such as YouTube and Mumsnet (Hill, 2024). This shows that most people prefer using e-commerce websites over other types of websites. Due to this result, the research gained proved to be useful for this practical project due to the ZD website not only being a business website for clients to find more information on the business, but also an e-commerce website so I can use the results from the questionnaire to improve the ZD Design and Print website.

During the research section of this project from last semester, I found out that one of the most important elements of a brand and therefore a website is the logo. Think of the most iconic brand logos you know whether that be the Nike swoosh, McDonald’s golden arches, or Apple’s, well, apple. A logo is a visual symbol that you choose to represent your brand. Of all branding elements, the logo is the fundamental component of your visual identity (Bynder, 2024). Based on this piece of research, one of the objectives for this project was to make sure that, when a consumer is visiting the website, they can easily access the home page by clicking the logo in the top left corner.

Icons

One of the elements within the ZD website that needed updating was the icons. The main icons that needed updating were the 3D printing icon on the home page, the live chat icon and the social media icons on the footer of each page. Icons are a critical component of a brand's visual identity. Consistency is key—your icons should match the overall style of your brand. Think of them as the visual glue holding your brand together (Laubach, 2024). Before this project, the 3D printing icon on the home page was a stock image of a 3D printer but this image did not match the ZD branding or the other icons on the page. The other icon on the home page was the 3D modelling icon which was an illustrated icon using the brand colours so, to make sure that each element was consistent with the brand, I used Adobe Illustrator to design a new icon. I chose a minimalistic design for the icons to match the industrial tone of the website as, if I were to make the design complex, the icon would look out of place and would not reflect the tone of the business.

Team Images

There are two primary reasons to feature your photo on your website: credibility and engagement. Seeing real faces helps your audience trust your business more. A photo shows that there's a real person they can connect with and work with. And when they see your team, they can engage with you on a more personal level (Hislop, 2017). The main reason for changing the ‘Meet The Team’ images is due to the images being illustrated versions of each member in the style of Snapchat characters so, to avoid legal issues and to create a better business-consumer relationship, I decided to use real images each member who consented to their photo being used on the website. For these images, I used each members’ LinkedIn profile images as it creates a sense of professionalism and allows potential clients to easily find the ZD team on social media.

Blog

One aspect of the ZD website that needed improving was the blog page. The blog page was originally created as part of another project during the first semester of my second year at university as a way to educate and inform consumers about new innovations in the 3D printing industry such as new 3D printers, new schemes ran by 3D printing and material companies and ways that 3D printing can used in other industries. Unfortunately, there have been no new blog posts since that project, so I wanted to create three new blog posts based on three different topics within the 3D printing industry. During the first ZD Design and Print project in my second year, I created a template that every blog post would follow so I made sure to follow this template for these new posts.

When brainstorming topics for the posts, I decided to choose these three topics: the new Bambu Labs H2D All-in-one 3D Printer, Filamentive’s PLA Recycling scheme and How 3D printing can encourage new ways of learning within an educational setting.

The Bambu Lab H2D is an all-in-one personal manufacturing hub combining 3D printing, laser engraving, and digital cutting in one platform (Bambu Labs, 2024). I chose to use this printer for the first blog post as it is one of the first 3D printers that can also be used for laser cutting and digital cutting. This innovation makes multiple different manufacturing processes easier as it would usually take three different machines to complete all of these processes and would cost significantly more to buy all three machines.

The second post was about Filamentive’s recycling scheme. Filamentive's PLA recycling scheme offers existing customers in the UK a free service to recycle PLA 3D printing waste. Eligible customers, who have spent a minimum of £500 + VAT on PLA filament products through their website, receive a 45L recycling box. They then send the filled box to 3D Printing Waste for recycling at no cost (Filamentive, 2024). My reason for choosing this as my second topic is that most companies in the 3D printing industry recycle their PLA using normal recycling bins which mixes with other recyclable waste so, by being able to recycle PLA this way, companies can ensure that their PLA waste will be used to make new products. This scheme also allows companies to be more sustainable.

As mentioned above, my third blog post topic was how 3D printing can encourage new ways of learning within an educational setting. There are many educational institutions around the UK that offer courses which involve 3D printing, but 3D printing can also be used to enhance learning in other subjects. In 2012/2013, the UK Government started a program which allowed various schools to purchase a 3D printer. Many of those schools used the 3D printer as part of their Design Technology subjects however, some schools also used the 3D printer for subjects such as Maths and Science. Science departments used the 3D printer as a context to discuss the properties of plastics, to build models for teaching science such as molecules, eye-balls, cells and sine waves, and to build components for working equipment such as rockets (Department of Education, 2013). I decided to use this as my final blog topic as a way to educate academic staff who may visit the website on how they can use 3D printing to enhance their teaching and therefore, create a more engaging learning atmosphere for young students.

Service Images

The final task for this project was to update the services images. Of course, content is essential to explain your products or services, but images help you reinforce this information. 65% of the population are visual learners, so by giving your visitors the power to visualise your products and services, they will then imagine utilising them (Turner, 2018). At the start of this project, the services images were stock images provided by Wix.com which needed to be updated as the previous images did not match the corresponding services. To create these images, I used Wix’s image generator to generate captivating and informative images for each service. I used AI to generate these images as it would be able to create more interesting images than I would be able to capture myself.

Time Management

In terms of time management, I was not able to complete all of the objectives that I set at the start of the project. This was due to waiting for a reply from a possible client. When the project initially started, I had contacted the Royal Logistic Corps Museum in Winchester as I had sent them a quote for a new website in late 2024 but I had not been given any updates on potential project since then however, they contacted me shortly after to tell me that they had decided to go with a different web designer. After finding this out, a contact at the RLC Museum told me that they were aware of another museum called the Royal Chaplain Corps Museum were looking to produce a website, so I contacted the RCC Museum but three weeks later, I received a reply to say that they had already hired a web designer to produce their website. This then led me to using the ZD website for this project.

Here is the Gantt Chart I created at the start of the project to ensure that I completed all of my tasks in time:

Conclusion

Overall, the project was successful. Although the project was delayed at the start, I was able to complete the main tasks that were needed to be completed. As mentioned above, the research section of this project found out that one of the main website elements that consumers look for in a new website is the use of logos. This meant that, in this practical project, I needed to make sure that the two types of logos used in the ZD website were easily visible and the features such as being able to click on the logo in the header to return to the home page are working.

References

Bambu Labs (2024). Bambu Lab H2D. [online] Bambu Lab USA Store. Available at: https://uk.store.bambulab.com/products/h2d? srsltid=AfmBOoof0VRtFPR3ftUDSgEJ6MyaJgMuR7c5RuYuU3L2EfHES4h4bbUG [Accessed 8 May 2025].

Bynder (2024). Brand Elements: The Key Elements of Brand Identity. [online] Bynder.com. Available at: https://www.bynder.com/en/glossary/brand-elements/ [Accessed 9 May 2025].

Department of Education (2013). 3D Printers in schools: Uses in the Curriculum Enriching the Teaching of STEM and Design Subjects. [online] GOV.UK, p.11. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a74f2a1ed915d3c7d52931c/3D_printers_in_schools.pdf [Accessed 9 May 2025].

Filamentive (2024). Filamentive Launch Free Recycling for PLA 3D Printing Waste. [online] https://www.filamentive.com/. Available at: https://www.filamentive.com/filamentive-launch-free-recycling-for-pla-3d-printing-waste/ [Accessed 8 May 2025].

Hill, D. (2024). How Does the Use of Various Website Elements Impact the Effectiveness of Brand Recognition. p.1.

Hislop, I. (2017). The Power of Including Team Photos. [online] Matrix Internet. Available at: https://www.matrixinternet.ie/picture-this-your-team-photo-on-your-website/ [Accessed 8 May 2025].

Laubach, C. (2024). Modern Iconography for Modern Branding. [online] Design Pickle. Available at: https://designpickle.com/creative-hub/graphic-design/modern-iconography-for-modern-branding/ [Accessed 8 May 2025].

Turner, L. (2018). 4 Main Reasons Why Images Are Important for Your Website. [online] Logic Design. Available at: https://www.logicdesign.co.uk/blog/4-reasons-images-important-website/ [Accessed 9 May 2025].