Before I started writing the blogs for Davis de Dios Media, I never gave much thought to the importance of website design.
Growing up with technology right at my fingertips might have jaded me to the work that goes into creating a page, making it user-friendly, and to the ever-changing art of keeping your website current.
Today, I am going to tell you about a very well-thought-out website that hooked me with its trendy graphic design, lined me with an inclusive setup, and sunk me with a tasty offer I could not refuse.
The website I’m talking about is the OC Restaurant Week interactive website. The OC Restaurant Week (OCRW) is a week-long event that takes place here, in Orange County, California, during which various restaurants from around the area offer special menus for fantastic deals.
As a lover of both food and good deals, it’s not hard to imagine how I ended up on their site: Targeted email marketing, of course!
Aesthetic
An email I received from Yelp drew my attention to the OCRW. The featured photos — a wonderful use of visuals, I might add — were just evocative enough to leave your mouth watering!
The first photo displayed on a slider at the top of their page is of a delightful-looking tart. Topped with blackberries and dusted with powdered sugar, it was a tasteful and effective showcase of the simplicity of the tart.
The photo rotates every five seconds, showing off pasta, tacos, cocktails, and steaks. The photographer of these photos must have read my blog from last week because they are, dare I say, professional-grade. (;
According to Dr. John Medina at Brain Rules, pairing text information with a photo increases content memory from 10% to 65% compared to text information given without a photo.
If you want your audience to remember your message, it is imperative to include relative visuals on your website.
The OCRW site was smart to use the beautiful food photography behind the most important information, the dates on which the event took place.
The page gave me an exciting taste of spring and summer through the use of clean graphics and bright colors. The font used for their header (below) is playful without being too busy. It made me enthusiastic to explore the site more and to try the featured restaurants!
Having a graphic designer for a roommate has taught me to appreciate the detail and time it takes to create custom fonts, so I was particularly impressed to see theirs (She has an amazing website as well).
Incorporating textures and patterns, like the one used in their font, into website design is currently very popular. Doing so brings attention to your page and also helps deliver the mood of your website. Though it is important that the textures and patterns you use do not overwhelm the viewer’s eye or distract your audience from the message of your page.
Navigation
Once I soaked up the aesthetic of the site, I noticed that they tabbed two different ways to explore the array of deals offered by OCRW.
The first tab allowed you to “Celebrate Your Way”, which cued a drop-down menu for date nights, family restaurants, high-end dining, specialty craft cocktails, vegetarian dining, squad dining, and lastly, desserts.
The second way to scope out the various deals is under the “Explore by Price” tab.
I was surprised to see the prices starting at $15 and thrilled to find that there were $20 options that fed two people! I was expecting a much more lavish price point.
In a survey taken by Clutch, 94% of consumers valued easy navigation as the most important tool that a website can have. So, how did OCRW measure up?
Navigating the website was a breeze and the process of finding a restaurant was quite fun!
I appreciated that I did not have to leave the OCRW page to find the address, hours, or the special menus of each restaurant. I was able to find options in my price range and then compare them and decide which one was the very best deal.
As they say, a penny saved is a penny earned!
One of the most notable features of using the site was how easy it was to follow on both my laptop AND my phone. 83% of mobile users stand by a website’s need for seamless navigation, across all devices.
There is value in being able to easily access websites whether we’re on-the-go, using our phones, or lounging at home on a computer.
I was able to utilize both the “Celebrate Your Way” and “Explore by Price” tabs on each of my devices without running into any problems. I also scoured the different menus at work (on my phone), and at home (on my laptop) with ease.
I found my experience to be seamless from start to finish using either device,
Any Questions?
An intelligent addition to their website is the ability to ask any questions you have through a small toggle in the lower right-hand corner of the page. Tapping or clicking the chat-bubble-shaped icon, pulls up a small response system where you can enter your name, email, and question to receive a response shortly.
This made the site interactive.
Utilizing this interactivity was another trendy move on their part. An article by Beyond recommends making your site interactive in 2022, as doing so is effective in increasing activity on booming websites.
Personally, there are very few things that annoy me as quickly as the “helpful” chat-bots that pop up on websites, immediately after you open them. I was happy to see that the OCRW website gave the option to request help rather than bombarding you with an auto-bot.
The Picnic
After MUCH deliberation, I decided on Scratch Bakery’s, $20 Picnic for two. The picnic included two sandwiches on fresh baguettes, two summer salads, two strawberry mint lemonades, and four cream puffs. So, one day after work, I secured my on-the-go picnic from the bakery, picked up my date, and headed to our spot.
While the ‘Italian Grinder’ was tempting, I chose the ‘Turkey & Avocado’ for both sandwiches.
I decided to hold out on the grinder till my trip to Tucson this weekend, where my first stop will undoubtedly be to Eegee’s. I’ve been dreaming of their ‘Spicy Grinder’ and medium fries with a side of ranch for what feels like decades.
Check out Eegee’s for another excellent example of graphic use and website design!
All of the food was delicious. The crackle of the baguette was superb. The salad was one I had never had before, with fresh strawberries and pears, feta cheese, a tangy vinegarette, and sliced almonds. The lemonade was refreshing and gone before we knew it. I predicted that would happen, so I made sure to pack a bottle of rosé and our darling stemless wine glasses from Killer Acid as well.
Wrapping it All Up
I try my best to cook at home to save money, but when life gives you OC Restaurant Week, you cave like the easy-going foodie that you are! The entire experience was an absolute knockout for me and I have their thoughtfully designed website (& Yelp) to thank for that. I look forward to seeing how they keep up with the developing trends in website design in 2023. Though, selfishly, I must say I am looking forward to the food a little bit more!
Here at Davis de Dios Media, we have professionals that can design a beautiful website for your business that is on-trend with the latest digital marketing trends, easy to navigate, and representative of you!
Reach out for more information!
As always, thank you for learning along with me. I’ll catch up with you next week with more food marketing schemes that I’ve fallen victim to!
Davis de Dios Media 