www.helveticabar.com

Completed December 2010

Project Overview

Helvetica Bar is a thriving boutique bar located in Perth’s CBD. The bar has a distinctively cool and sophisticated atmosphere, so it was crucial that this was translated through Helveticas’ new website.
The main focus is whisky with over 140 bottles in stock. The bar features a bottle-keep, where customer’s bottles are stored in a locker free of charge.
The bar has a strong focus on design - it has been nominated for design awards and was one of three finalists in Gourmet Travellers’ Bar of the Year.
The website design has taken influence from the Swiss school of design – the origin of the font after which the bar has been named after. The site emphasises cleanliness, readability and objectivity. Furthermore, it fills any screen resolution with its liquid layout – just try and resize the screen.

Technology & Design

To implement the bold and unique interface design JavaScript was utilised to link the stylised look with a functioning content management system. This allows Helvetica staff to easily update their content using a Joomla backend, without expensive modifications to a Flash animation every time the drink menu is updated.
Google can read all text within the website, which is a fantastic SEO advantage that is not possible for similar site designs that use Flash as a platform.
The site can be viewed without Flash e.g on iPhone, iPad, mobile devices, this is a major benefit as many web users will view the site on one or more of these devices.
The design revolves around these large-scale photographs of the bar, this was a strategic decision, enabling communication of the great mood and atmosphere of the bar.
Each section of the site features a unique set of images chosen to reflect the content. A tailor-made fade transition has been created using the Helvetica logo, to reinforce the brand and give the site a unique edge.