Peacemade Craft Website
A self-initiated WordPress and WooCommerce e-commerce website created to launch a personal art shop, showcase original artwork, support commission inquiries, and build a more professional creative brand presence.
ROLE
UX Designer, UX Writer, Website Builder
PLATFORM
WordPress + WooCommerce
AUDIENCE
Art buyers, commission clients, local customers, social followers
OUTCOME
More professional brand presence
01 · OVERVIEW
A dedicated storefront for a personal art brand.
Peacemade Craft is a personal art e-commerce website created to launch and promote my original artwork, handmade creations, and custom commission services. The site functions as both an online shop and a brand platform, giving visitors a clear way to explore available artwork, learn about the artist behind the work, request custom pieces, and connect through social channels.
The project focused on building a professional digital presence for a small creative business while keeping the experience approachable, personal, and easy to navigate.
Visual suggestion: show a full-page screenshot of the homepage with callouts for the hero section, navigation, product grid, and footer.
02 · MY ROLE
I designed and built the Peacemade Craft website for my own art business, which meant I owned the creative direction and user experience decisions from start to finish. My responsibilities included defining the website goals and target audiences, planning the site structure and navigation, designing the homepage content flow, creating the visual browsing experience, organizing shop, gallery, blog, and contact pages, setting up e-commerce functionality through WooCommerce, writing website copy, selecting imagery, and designing calls to action for shopping, commissions, newsletter signup, and social engagement.
Team size
Solo project: strategy, design, content, setup, and implementation.
Tools used
WordPress, WooCommerce, website customizer tools, product photography, image editing, content writing, and site planning.
Timeline
Completed in phases: brand and content planning, site structure, visual design, product setup, and launch preparation.
Methods
Competitive review, content hierarchy planning, e-commerce flow mapping, navigation planning, visual design exploration, responsive review, and readability checks.
03 · THE PROBLEM
Before creating Peacemade Craft, the business needed a dedicated online presence that could do more than simply show artwork on social platforms. Social platforms are useful for discovery, but they do not always provide a clear shopping experience, organized product browsing, or a professional destination for commissions and brand storytelling. The challenge was to create a website that felt personal and artistic while still functioning like a trustworthy online shop.
Business challenges included creating a professional home for a new art business, making original artwork easier to browse and purchase, supporting both product sales and custom commission requests, building credibility with first-time visitors, and connecting the site to social channels. User pain points included scattered product information, unclear commission pathways, the need for visible pricing, and the need to understand the artist’s style before buying.
04 · GOALS & SUCCESS METRICS
The main goal was to launch a professional online art shop that could support product sales, commission inquiries, and brand growth. Business objectives included establishing Peacemade Craft as a credible creative brand, creating a digital place to sell original artwork, making commission requests easier to initiate, supporting future marketing through newsletter signup and social links, and helping visitors understand the artist’s personality, location, and creative process.
The initial success outcome was a more professional brand presence. Future metrics to track include shop page visits, product detail views, add-to-cart activity, completed purchases, commission inquiry submissions, newsletter signups, social referral traffic, returning visitors, search usage, and top-performing categories.
05 · RESEARCH & DISCOVERY
Because this is a self-initiated business website, discovery focused on audience needs, competitive patterns, and the trust signals customers expect from independent art shops. As the business owner and artist, I defined the key needs: sell original artwork online, promote custom commissions, share the story behind the brand, support social media discovery, and make the site simple to maintain over time.
Key findings: independent art shoppers often want product clarity and artist personality; product imagery needs to be prominent because visual appeal drives interest; commission clients need reassurance that custom work is available; a personal story helps differentiate handmade artwork from generic marketplace listings; and clear navigation matters because visitors may arrive from social media with limited context.
Visual suggestion: include a competitive analysis matrix comparing independent artist sites across navigation, visual clarity, commission CTA, storytelling, and newsletter signup.
06 · USER PERSONAS
Maya · Original Art Buyer
Recently moved into a new apartment and wants affordable original artwork that feels personal. She needs clear product photos, visible pricing, and confidence that the shop is trustworthy.
Jordan · Commission Client
Wants a custom pet portrait as a meaningful gift. He needs examples of the artist’s style, reassurance that custom work is available, and an easy way to start a conversation.
Taylor · Social Follower
Finds the brand through YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok and needs a clear path from content discovery to shopping, subscribing, or learning more about the artist.
07 · USER JOURNEY
The primary journey is Browse and Buy Artwork: land on the homepage, understand the value proposition, click Shop The Collection, browse product cards with images and prices, select a product, add it to cart, and complete checkout through WooCommerce. The secondary journey is Request a Custom Order: learn that commissions are accepted, review artwork examples, click Custom Orders or Contact, send an inquiry, and continue the commission conversation.
Opportunities for improvement include adding product category filters, labels for Original, Print, or Commission Available, product details such as size and medium, a dedicated commission page, and a commission inquiry form with fields for subject, deadline, and reference images.
08 · INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
The navigation prioritizes shopping, storytelling, and contact: Home, Shop, About, Blog, Gallery, Contact, Search, and Cart. Shop supports visitors ready to browse products. About builds trust and explains the artist’s story. Blog supports content and SEO opportunities. Gallery gives visual proof of style and range. Contact supports questions and commission inquiries. Search helps returning visitors find specific items, and Cart supports the e-commerce flow.
The homepage hierarchy moves from announcement and brand navigation to a hero section with location, value proposition, and CTAs, then an artist introduction, featured collection, small-business trust highlights, a YouTube subscription prompt, and a footer with contact, quick links, newsletter, and social links.
Visual suggestion: include a sitemap diagram showing homepage, shop, product pages, gallery, blog, contact, and cart.
09 · WIREFRAMING
The wireframing process focused on defining the homepage story and deciding where key actions should appear. Early concepts explored a hero section with text and strong artwork imagery, a product preview grid near the top of the page, a personal introduction section, clear CTAs for shopping and custom orders, and a footer with contact and newsletter signup. The final structure balances artistic personality with e-commerce clarity.
10 · UI DESIGN
The visual design reflects the handmade, peaceful, nature-inspired personality of the brand while maintaining enough structure for e-commerce. The interface uses spacious sections, large artwork imagery, simple navigation, rounded buttons, product cards, icon-supported value statements, a high-contrast footer, and consistent calls to action. The palette combines deep navy for trust, light blue for calmness, and warm green accents for a handmade natural feel, while white space keeps artwork prominent.
Accessibility considerations included clear CTA buttons, strong contrast in navigation and footer areas, legible product imagery, visible pricing, simple navigation labels, and search and cart access in the header. Comfort improvements include stronger visible focus states, descriptive product image alt text, improved form error states, and keyboard navigation testing.
11 · PROTOTYPE & TESTING
Because this is a solo business website, testing focused on reviewing the live site flow rather than running a formal usability study. I reviewed the site through the lens of first-time visitors, checking whether they could quickly understand the brand, find products, locate commission information, and access contact options. Key tasks included browsing available artwork, locating custom order information, adding an item to cart, finding contact information, subscribing or following the brand, and navigating between shop, gallery, blog, and contact pages.
Improvements included adding clear CTAs for shopping and custom orders, product cards showing pricing options, product previews before adding to the homepage, including brand storytelling before deeper shopping sections, using footer links to improve navigation access, and adding newsletter and social touchpoints for ongoing engagement.
12 · FINAL SOLUTION
The final website gives Peacemade Craft a professional online presence that supports shopping, storytelling, and customer connection. Key features include a homepage hero introducing the brand and location, clear shop and pricing order CTAs, a WooCommerce-powered product catalog, featured product grid with images and pricing, artist introduction, gallery and blog navigation, newsletter signup, social media links, contact information, cart and search access, and a footer with quick links and brand touchpoints.
User benefits include quickly understanding what Peacemade Craft offers, browsing available products visually, finding clear contact pathways for commissions, and using the website as a central destination after discovering the brand through social media. Business benefits include a more credible brand presence, direct product sales support, improved visibility for commissions, and a foundation for email growth and formal marketing.
Visual suggestion: create a before-and-after diagram showing scattered social posts and DMs before the website, then a centralized site hub with shop, gallery, contact, newsletter, and social links after launch.
13 · RESULTS & IMPACT
The primary outcome was a more professional brand presence for Peacemade Craft. The site launched as a dedicated online storefront for original artwork and handmade creations, created a centralized destination for products and commission inquiries, improved credibility for first-time visitors, made product discovery easier through a visual shop grid, supported future marketing through newsletter signups and social links, and created a stronger foundation for growing the art business beyond social platforms.
Because exact performance metrics were not available, the case study avoids unsupported claims and instead defines a future measurement plan: shop page views, product detail page views, add-to-cart rate, completed purchases, commission inquiry submissions, newsletter signups, and returning-visitor rate, to be tracked as the business grows.
Peacemade Craft demonstrates my ability to design and launch a complete digital experience for a small creative business. The project required more than visual design; it involved understanding audience needs, supporting e-commerce behavior, and communicating a brand story in a way that feels professional and personal. The work demonstrates UX strategy, information architecture, e-commerce design, content hierarchy, brand storytelling, visual design, responsive design thinking, WordPress and WooCommerce implementation, UX writing, and small business digital strategy.