Make it EdThread.
Eddington Thread MFG Co
Since 1946, Eddington Thread has manufactured top-quality industrial thread in the heart of Bensalem, Pennsylvania. The company’s motto, “Combining Craftsmanship of the Past...With Tomorrow’s Technology,” was crucial to this redesign project.
While busy maintaining high standards within its manufacturing process, the company’s web presence remained behind.
With this redesign, we were able to give the company a modern boost and uphold their core beliefs.
Design Brief
Branding Guidelines
Key Messaging: “Combining Craftsmanship of the Past…With Tomorrow’s Technology”
Style: Clean, Industrial, Signature Teal, Moody Neutrals
Features
Company Information (Hours, Mailing Address, Contact, Etc)
Quote Inquiry Form
Product Information and Specs
Company History & Current Facility
Job Opportunities
Social Media Presence
Intimate Look into the Company’s Process
Original Design
20th Century Presence
Eddington Thread’s online presence represented the earliest idea of a website: An overview of the company, basic information on their product, and a simple phone number.
While this limited view into the company was adequate for its 1990s design, the 20th-century design did not uphold to Eddington’s professional standards throughout the years.
Concept & Design
Branding Guidelines
Beginning in 1946, Eddington Thread was created as a small family-owned company engineering industrial filament threads in the Philadelphia area.
The company’s original branding embodied the clean yet kitschy style of the 1940s. This vibrant red logo lived on Eddington’s products for the next 50 years until their new branding launched in the mid-1990s.
Challenges: While the company wanted to improve its online professionalism, it did not want to upgrade its logo from its latest 1990s design.
Solutions: Seeing the simplicity in Eddington’s logo history was a good jumping point for style planning in the redesign.
History
During this project, I was lucky enough to get an intimate look into Eddington’s process. I wanted to translate this element into the user experience, allowing the consumer an inside look into the rich history and the company’s evolution.
Key Insights: Modern UX typically focuses on predicting new trends, designing for the future, and a modern stylistic approach. While I sorted through Eddington’s Archives, I came across a collection of vintage photographs and even a VHS tape commercial from the 1980s!
I thought seeing the history of the plant compared to their modern process was so cool and decided to add these details into their redesign.
Modern Facility
An important feature of this redesign was showing Eddington’s current facility and updating its product information. After establishing a list of what the company wanted to feature, I had the plant manager take me around the facility to shoot photos of their current setup.
Challenges: Taking photos and adding in new info about Eddington’s process was fairly simple. The product information on the old version of the site, however, was very outdated and provided customers with inaccurate information.
Solutions: To accurately update the product information and specs, I sat down with a couple of sales representatives and the plant manager to guarantee the information was correct and the most up-to-date for customers.
Style Guide
After much discussion with the company, Eddington decided it did not want to update its logo. I took this as an opportunity to study the logo and branch my design from there.
I presented the company with a preview showing my intentions for the color palette, font choices, and certain UI Elements. Once they agreed, I moved forward with generating design mockups.
Final Design
Tasks Accomplished
Industrial Thread Competitive Analysis
Research into Company History & Practices
Modernized Company’s Professional Website
Photography of Product & Facility
Research and Scans of Photographic Archives
Social Media Set-Up
Responsive Web Design