Project Information
In October 2016 as Lead Designer I was relocated to Pentagram design studio to collaborate with Pentagram Partner, Harry Pearce and his team on the rebrand for the the John Lewis Partnership. To begin with we spent plenty of time exploring the new identity, validating that it was viable for digital application and focusing on specific areas such as use of colour, typographic rules, icon design and animation principles. Early into this process it became evident that the signature shade of green that had been used online for buttons and icons was problematic against the breadth of products sold online. Applying a neutral monochrome palette prevented products from clashing against the UI. The monochrome palette also provides the brand with aspirational and desirable qualities that are commonly associated to premium brands like Chanel and Burberry.
The focus then shifted to the high-level design of key customer journeys for the website, iOS app and Android app. Scheduling the web development of the customer journeys was a complex piece of work. To begin with we identified the core design foundations such as the use of colour, typographic rules, icon design and design grids and deployed these to a copy of the main URL. The remainder of the work was then distributed to the 14 product development teams. Co-ordination now became key as customer journeys crossed over to different web development teams. During the development phase my role changed from Lead Designer to Design Consultant, assisting teams with design direction, brand toolkit on-boarding, design challenges and setting the design priorities within teams.
The new brand successfully launched on digital and physical platforms on the 7th September 2018.
“We couldn’t have done it without you!
It’s been wonderful working with you on this, and you should be very proud”.
Sienne Veit, Director, Digital
John Lewis & Partners
Read more about this project on It’s Nice That, Creative Review and Creative Boom