We’ve worked with iconic Manchester leisure venue, Printworks, since 2014. During those six years, we’ve built their online presence from the ground up, establishing their social channels and generating hundreds of pieces of coverage, on and offline. From fun events to innovative campaigns, we help drive footfall and support their fantastic inhouse team to offer an unforgettable experience to visitors online and offline.

When the brand approached us about creating a new website to match their brand refresh ahead of a £9 million venue makeover, we had some stiff competition, with three other digital agencies pitching for this exciting project. After a tough pitch process, we were thrilled that our knowledge of the brand, technical know-how and creative flair shone through and secured us the project.

Our Creative Lead, Lauren, explains how we reinvented the Printworks’ website:

• Design and develop a fresh, modern site that promotes Printworks as Manchester’s number one leisure venue
• Showcase Printworks’ bold new branding
• Ensure the new website is fully functional across all devices, with a focus on mobile usability
• Build in a ticket sales functionality through Eventbrite for events
• With Vue Cinema a key driver of footfall for the venue, ensure up to date cinema listings from the official Vue website automatically pull through to Printworks’ website

Understanding the client and their ambitions, the patrons of the venue and the Manchester landscape, we created a website that presented the brand as larger than life, and a venue that is home-from-home for the 8 million visitors they attract from around the world every year.

Improving user experience

To ensure the site worked logically for all users we focused on creating a mobile-first site with user experience at the forefront. Then we could focus on designing the new user interface (how it looks) to match their brand refresh. To start, we:

• Conducted audience research and profiling
• Reorganised the site structure
• Simplified the navigation options
• Created colour-coded categories that act as quick links and visual markers across the site

Sharing news and offers

To improve this key function of the website we:

• Merged the events, offers and blog pages into one master “What’s On” page
• Created a simple but robust filter system for users
• Produced a suite of ‘What’s On’ content for each venue
• Redesigned the layout of posts so the key information was clear at a glance, paired with engaging photography (which we art directed)

Showcasing venues

To support each venue we:

• Used high-quality, engaging “hero” photography to bring the venues to life
• Created a new “venues” section with a filter option allowing users to separate by category
• Introduced a handy “open now” option
• Added an autoplay video or gif animation of venue images when users hover over their page to act as a sneak peek

Working hard for tenants

We built a website that works hard for the 19 Printworks tenants, including:

• New venue pages with opening times and mini directions within the Printworks
• Quick links to each brand’s website and social media and featured Instagram photos
• Menus for food and drink clients with a clear call to action to view
• The latest news and offers for each venue (or relevant category) pulled through to the page automatically
• A new Vue Cinema page integrated with the Vue website so movie listings, information and even trailers are pulled through automatically

We loved working with the Printworks on this project, creating a platform that truly showcases the venue’s fun, bold brand values. We have created a flexible, adaptable website that can grow with their ambition, as they move into an exciting phase in their history. Take a look at the finished website in all its glory here.

Think your website could do with a refresh but don’t know where to start? As a fully integrated digital and creative agency, get in touch to see how we can help.