Taste in Carlow Website Design

Taste of Carlow Food & Drink Strategy is an initiative formed and supported by local businesses and local authorities to promote the production, processing and consumption of Carlow’s food and drink, as well as promoting the county as a premiere ‘foodie’ destination. Journey were appointed by Carlow County Council last year to fully develop the Taste in Carlow website.

In order to break out as a serious foodie contender, Taste in Carlow needed a strong story and clear messaging behind their new brand identity. Journey were selected to work with Carlow on this project due to our shared vision around developing a unique brand story in order to set Taste in Carlow apart from the other typically more well-known Irish foodie destinations. The county is set apart by its diverse and rich offerings in food, heritage and scenic beauty but also, by its way of life. It’s chock-a-block with storytellers and characters and a rugged beauty all of its own. In order to showcase this, we developed a ‘Food Heroes’ section as a way to introduce visitors to the adventure, wit, characters, and genuine hospitality of Carlow’s producers.

In addition to telling Taste in Carlow’s story, the finished website also needed to drive traffic to partners, aid business development, serve as a forum for stakeholders and promote social interaction. We also created a Taste Shop where users can purchase food experiences such as brewery tours, guided food trails, afternoon tea offers, heritage food tours, etc. It also sells some local products such as speciality hampers, cookbooks, featured ‘products of the month’, etc

In terms of visuals, the Taste in Carlow website really stands out with an unconventional layout and the use of custom illustrations throughout. Carlow gave us carte blanche to really let our imaginations run riot and we embraced that! Our artists created some beautiful artwork that is quirky, authentic and meaningful whilst helping to strengthen the brand personality that is showcased throughout the whole website.

This is just the beginning for Taste of Carlow — as the initiative continues to roll out and gain momentum, the standards we’ve established ensure consistent application across all touchpoints.