Design Brief: Franklin Report – Digital Platform Redesign and Tool Development
Client: The Franklin Report
Scope: Website Redesign, UX/UI, Custom Tools, Asset Management
Overview:
I led the complete digital overhaul of Franklinreport.com, transforming an outdated site into a modern, easy-to-use platform that encouraged more interaction and made navigation a breeze. Along the way, I built tools, managed massive visual libraries, and designed entire user experiences from scratch—always with the goal of making things work beautifully for both the brand and its users
The objective: To refresh and update a well-known website that provides high-end home design services.
My Role: Creative Director, graphic designer, and manager of the developing/programming team.
Project Duration: Starting in the spring of 2017 to final publishing in the fall of 2018, as the client had a vision that needed to be translated to the page.
The Challenge
The Franklin Report serves wealthy clients in South Florida, New York City, Los Angeles, Connecticut, and Santa Barbara, with many aged 50 to 70 relying on the annual printed version. The challenge was to modernize the site for non-tech-savvy users, while keeping the owner's strong vision intact. Updating the well-known portal for designers and home services took time.
Another major challenge was to develop and implement a tool for users to manage their own design portfolios, as until this point, any changes a client needed to make to their portfolios had to be done manually by staff, making the update process slow and laborious.
The Solution
I kept the general layout of the home page as close as possible to the original website so users familiar with the old site could still navigate. During the slow rollout of the new site, I updated the color scheme of the company logo and removed old-fashioned fonts whenever possible. In other site sections, I used a simple approach to the menus.
I designed visually driven portfolio search pages with large graphics, making it easier for users to quickly spot their favorite vendors or find the services they needed
The updated client portfolios were given a unified look—clean, consistent, and simple to build using the new portfolio builder tool, code-named Llama.
Project “Llama”.
Portfolio Creation Tool:
Designed and launched a premium-member-only tool that let top designers build and share their own portfolios directly through the platform.
The Result
A 20% rise in web traffic and a 32% increase in paid portfolio subscriptions showed the impact of the redesign. The visual search pages and the Llama portfolio builder gave the platform a clean, cohesive look while making it easier to use. Designers and trade professionals could present their work more effectively, clients found what they needed faster, and the overall experience felt modern and built for the long run.