The Chapel | Website Design

The Chapel first approached Digital Marmalade in 2001. We were asked to create a stylish, slick and innovative website that reflected the salon and detailed the services available. Since then we have worked closely with The Chapel to enhance this, by refreshing the website’s look and feel and expanding upon its content to give the user a real taster of what they can expect from a visit to The Chapel – an escape from the day to day stresses of life.

The Solution

Digital Marmalade has worked with The Chapel since 2001, maintaining and strengthening its online brand through a number of website redesigns. The Chapel is a very forward thinking company which keeps itself ahead of the game in every aspect of its work. With fashions constantly changing, The Chapel recognised that in order for it to sustain its position as a market leader, its website had to keep ahead of these changes.

The Chapel offers its visitors a relaxing retreat from the day to day stresses of life, and the site reflects that. We created a colour palette for the website which encompasses the overall feeling of the salon. We chose calming colours to complement the high quality imagery, and through these elements - together with a ‘Virtual Tour’ which offers 360° views of the salon – we are able to communicate an idea of what it’s like to visit. Video interviews with the staff and a guest book help to further personalise the user experience, and show just how dedicated they are to making visitors feel relaxed in their visit.

To develop on the calming feeling of the site, we have incorporated very gentle Flash animation, allowing the site to move from page to page with a natural fluidity. The ‘Hair Collections’ area is perhaps the best example of this; exceptionally high quality photographs of the top stylist’s work are displayed and brought to life through this subtle animation.

In 2007 The Chapel opened a second venture in Islington, North London. In line with this development we were asked to create a second site to mirror the original Tunbridge Wells site. This went live in early 2008. The Chapel has received numerous accolades over the years. Amongst these awards are two for its website, which we’re very proud of - it won the British Hairdressing Awards ‘Website Of The Year’ in 2005 and again in 2007.

www.thechapel.co.uk