Project Management

Throughout the project, we used Clickup and the Google Workspace suite to manage our tasks and client files. We found value in recording meetings so that we could check notes and confirm decisions throughout the process. We leveraged a waterfall workflow that was built in reverse from the launch date to the start of the project and managed to account for almost everything. We only ended up using 10% of our contingency in the days leading up to the launch of the website for unexpected technical issues.

Research

After we assembled the team, we began looking for similar projects as guideposts for what was successful and what had failed. The client wanted to pass on their knowledge and experiences as a religious scholar through a series of online courses that students could take in order. In addition, the client was asking for a novel educational platform to be developed around the course for students to interact with.

Discovery Meetings

We met with a client on a weekly basis, initially for needs discovery. The meetings transitioned into approval and status update meetings, after our initial discovery phase have been completed.

and discovery, we asked many questions about the clients ideas for what they would like their brand to represent in the world, where they felt their brand fit into the larger diaspora of similar content, and about the level of quality they expected, in order to attract their target audience.

Strategy Development

Because the client was starting this initiative from scratch, we knew that a proper brand strategy would not only help them as they continued to develop this project into the future, but also ensure that all of the efforts we put in to this phase would have a consistent tone, style, voice, and end in a unified result.

The brand strategy not only included research about the market and target audience, but how the brand could fit into the space and likely avenues for achieving success.

Design Meetings

In addition to the brand strategy, our designer, Priya, also developed a style guide to ensure consistency in everything we created. 

The first step of this was to design a logo and determine a color palette. We met with the client through 4 rounds of revisions to get the logo just the way the client wanted. I was impressed with the depth of thought and symbolism that Priya had put into the designs she offered the client, but in the end, the client had their own vision and had a logo that they personally designed and Priya graciously polished up.

Website Design and Development

For this project, Terrestrial’s team determined that Webflow would give us the maximum amount of design control and flexibility while minimizing upkeep.

A simple one-page designed based on the constraints of the project. It was based on mobile-first principles and included a number of subtly interactive and engaging page elements that never overpowered the users’ experience, but added to the effect of a well-polished website.

Filming

Our writer and director worked closely with the client to write a 5 minute course introduction filmed in the style of Master Class – a high level of production quality that conveys value, insight, and expertise without saying it out loud.

The script for the video was created over a series of meetings with the client and once it had approval, our team moved into production and then post production by the second month of the project.

Launch & Social

The website was launched at the end of the 3rd month of the project, on time and on budget. We celebrated with the client in an online launch party. In order to deliver a beyond-expectations experience, the team figured out a launch surprise package for the client and I assembled everything and hand-delivered it to them. 

The box included a party hat, kazoo, USB and shirt both engraved with the client’s logo, and their brand and style guides in a printed book.

After the launch party, we created a series of Instagram and Facebook posts to automatically start conversations with the client’s audience.