Work

Natif Creatif:
Live like a local

Minimum viable brand and digital experience design to connect people with sustainable local artisans

A close up shot of a woman's hands, using a piping bag to squeeze delicious green filling into rows of green macarons

outputs:

  • Brand + visual identity
  • Digital design system
  • Website UX + UI

About natif Creatif

Life’s hard when you’re forced to wander the backstreets of Montpellier in search of the perfect macaron. Natif Creatif connects you to sustainable, locally made products and experiences, so you need wander no more. It’s free for artisans to sign up, and it’s powered by genuine, heartfelt recommendations from real people.

I helped Natasha, the founder of Natif Creatif, turn her idea into an MVP operating in Bristol, UK and Montpellier, France. We worked together on the name, brand, and website, which launched in late 2021.

Through workshopping and discussion, Natasha and I refined the essence of Natif Creatif down to three things - connection to the earth, hand-made charm, and vitality.

We used a minimum viable brand process to quickly get the basics of the identity down - a bunch of block printed shapes that can be used to spell the name but also for all sorts of other stuff, and a fresh, holiday palette that references the terracotta and terrazzo that Natif Creatif artisans work with.

A banner-sized pattern made of red blue woodblock print shapes taken from the Natif Creatif logo. In the middle, soft semi-sans text reads 'Live like a local', which is the brand's strapline.
Red and blue woodblock triangles and circles make the shape of a crown. Underneath, text reads 'High quality', the first of Natif Creatif's brand promises.
It's those woodblock shapes again, this time making the shape of a hand. Underneath it says 'Handcrafted', the second brand promise.
The final brand promise uses the woodblock shapes to make a heart. Underneath, text reads 'Sustainable'.

Quality is an important touchstone for Natif Creatif too. Rough-edged earthiness is cool, but the artisans featured in the site are professionals making the highest quality products.

Super-clean typography and a highly structured design language, combined with subtle calls back to the logo, ensure the tone’s just right.

A sample page from the Natif Creatif brand guidelines, showing a white paper bag printed with the NC logo and a blue and orange woodblock pattern, on a light blue background..
A sample intro page from the NC brand guidelines, showing the headline 'Local people making quality things by hand' and a message from Natasha, the founder. The message is too small to be legible.
Another page from the brand guidelines, showing the colour palette (red, two shades of mid blue, pale pink, and dark blue) along with some tints.
Another page from the guidelines, showing some typeface specs for the primary brand font, Recoleta, which is a soft, modern semi-sans.
Another page from the guidelines, showing some example photography, focused on hands, soft, natural lighting and desaturated colours.
A final page from the guidelines, showing a darkened image of a French market stall, with the text 'Live like a local' overlaid in white.
The Natif Creatif homepage running on a big screen. There are some macarons scattered around, and big text in the middle at the top saying 'Find unique, artisan products and experiences across Bristol and Montpellier'. Underneath that, there's a section explaining how NC works.

Because of the nature of the proposition, the Natif Creatif homepage gets a lot of action. Big, rotating background images of beautiful things made by artisans combine with a simple how it works section to explain what Natif Creatif is for and entice people to explore more.

An artisan listing page running on a smartphone-sized screen. There's a search box and some filter controls, then a list of artisans with big images. Only the first item in the list is fully visible.
An artisan detail page for L'Atelier d'Eléonore, a baker in Montpellier. There's an image of her hands at work kneading some dough, and underneath there's a list of basic information about her.
The front page of a guide to 'Artisan Autumn', running on a smartphone-sized screen. In the background there's an image of a woman's hands holding a rough clay pot.

The whole point of the business is to connect people with artisans they probably wouldn’t have found otherwise, so discovery and recommendation journeys are really important.

Smart filtering and location-based ordering makes it easy to find artisans who offer a specific thing, and seasonal, themed guides help you plan an artisan-centred day trip or weekend.

Every artisan gets their own, consistently structured detail page, that tells their story and explains their offering alongside personal recommendations and directions, so it’s super easy to discover beautiful new things.

“Robb really understood the values behind Natif Creatif, and instinctively knew better than I did how to represent them. And he's a delight to work with, too.”

Natasha wee

Founder, Natif Creatif

Honourable mentions

Natif Creatif was built by regular Ōrke collaborator Rob Saunders at Splendid Web. Just the two of us, out here changing the world.

See for yourself

Check Natif Creatif out for yourself. And next time you’re in Montpellier, don’t mess about. Go straight to L'Atelier d'Eléonore on Boulevard des Arceaux. I’ve heard the macarons are sensational.

Let's make something

.

Whatever it is, let's make it great. 
Get in touch.

hello@orke.design
+44 (0) 7736 459421

© 2019 Ōrke Consultancy Limited. 

Company number 12138022.
Proudly cookie-free