When 1985 Games sets out to design something new, they have a very specific vision in mind. Their goal is to create cool and unique accessories that feel like what you’ve been looking for all along. They know that if a gaming accessory doesn't solve a problem or enhance your game then it doesn’t matter. They focus on designing new accessories that they would be happy to use in their own games.
2H Media partnered with the 1985 Games leadership to develop a playful update to their website that would capture a retro classic gaming feel. The goal was to bring modern ecommerce staples to the website while using focused branding to inspire a sense of creativity and fun. Additionally, a specific goal of the project was to expand the scope of the website to represent 1985 Games as a growing company in the gaming space, without focusing strictly on their flagship product, Dungeon Craft.
“As a long-time veteran of tabletop game design, it's always exciting to me to step back into that world of creativity and wonder where I developed many of my skills as a designer.” — Aron Murch, 2H Media Chief Information Officer
Where the previous iteration of the 1985 Games website focused strictly on Dungeon Craft, their line of tabletop gaming terrain books, the updated website would instead focus on 1985 Games as its own entity. To facilitate this change, a crucial step in the process was developing formalized brand guidelines that brought the company's retro inspiration to the forefront and would compliment the existing casette mimic logo.
In ecommerce success, one of the key indicators for revenue is cart size. Eliminating barriers to purchase is paramount in improving online store performance. With both of those points in mind, we leveraged the rich Shopify app ecosystem to introduce product bundles that are displayed directly on the individual product pages. The new product bundles would effectively function as on-page upsells while also allowing customers to purchase product bundles with a single click without introducing inaccuracies to the product inventories.
1985 Games really shines when it comes to elaborate fantasy visuals. With the bright and cheery nature of the products, we set out to ensure that the colourful visuals were given ample space to shine across the website. With this goal in mind, a custom section was added to the homepage, allowing for the creation of "Shop the Look" elements that could be customized by the 1985 Games leadership to add beautiful images with links to specific products and bundles.
To achieve sustainability in an ecommerce environment, it is crucial for business owners to have access to their own content without being locked into developer support. To maximize the power in the hands of the 1985 Games leadership, custom sectioned page templates were introduced for key webpages. By leveraging sectioned page templates, the 1985 Games leadership is able to update website content straight from the customizer without the need to directly edit custom code.
