From Mockup to Launch: Whitestone Inn

Another week, another website launch day at Smarter Searches! Guys, our team is so excited about this one – it’s a gorgeous bed and breakfast in Kingston, Tennessee! Keep reading to see how we transformed the brand’s online presence and made the website more functional for guests.

The Project

Whitestone Inn is located on a 600-acre lakefront property in Kingston, Tennessee. With 23 suites, its own restaurant, a full-service spa, and endless activities to keep you entertained, it has everything one would need for a quiet, relaxing weekend away from all the distractions of everyday life.

Whitestone came to us near the end of 2019 with a goal of refreshing its brand identity. For decades, the inn was known as Whitestone Country Inn: a charming name for a charming bed and breakfast. However, the inn had recently undergone several renovations to modernize the suites, and the managers wanted the Whitestone brand to reflect the new, updated elegance of the property.

Additionally, the managers acknowledged that it was time to give the website a new look and more functionality. Guests were unable to book online, forcing them to call to make their reservations. Going into 2020, they needed an online booking solution to enhance their guests’ experience and start it out on the right foot.

Logo Redesign

We kicked off the project with a logo redesign. The current logo had served them well for many years and they were sad to part with it, but they recognized that it was time for an update. The current logo featured a kelly green oval with the words “Whitestone Inn” written in a dated font.

We presented them with several new logo options. Because we knew they loved their current logo, we started out by playing it safe and offering them updated versions of their current logo. After that, every logo that followed was further and further from the original.

We thought the options at the bottom were a stretch; but, much to our surprise, they fell in love with the logo at the bottom right (the one that differed the most from their current logo)!

The Mood Board

Next up: the mood board! The new logo meant we could experiment with new colors, fonts, and brand elements. After lots of back-and-forths, we opted to nix the kelly green in favor of a lighter sage green that better complimented the gold of the new logo. Next came a fancy new script font and an updated look for Whitestone’s property map.

The Mockup

With updated fonts and a brand new color palette, it was time to start the mockup. This mockup took many hours to perfect, but the finished product was something we were very proud of and I (Mara) couldn’t wait to start building it.

The Build

It was finally time to make the mockup come to life. Thanks to our friends over at Big Slate Media, we got an amazing collection of drone footage to feature in the header of the website. It really shows off the beauty of the property and adds some motion to the site. We are obsessed! We also shot updated photos of each suite at the inn, as well as the common areas that weren’t previously featured on the website. After that, we were ready to roll with the build.

With over 60 pages, we had our work cut out for us – but it felt AMAZING to finish them all! As a designer, there’s truly nothing better than getting to sit back and look at the finished product of a project you worked so hard on.

Meanwhile, the team at Whitestone was hard at work on implementing a new online booking software so that guests would finally be able to reserve their rooms online. The result: a fully functional, beautiful, and simple platform to make guests’ booking experience a breeze!

And now…the reveal!

We are so honored to have been able to help Whitestone through its 2020 rebrand and website redesign. We can honestly say it was one of the most fun projects we’ve ever worked on. Whitestone Inn, thank you for trusting us to transform your brand!