Case study · New website
How we designed and built Violette Foley’s website
The client
Violette Foley is a documentary filmmaker. She grew up in France, studied French and English at the University of Bristol, then trained as a documentary director at the National Film and Television School. Alongside her films, she makes social media content for individuals and small businesses.
The brief
Violette needed a website that felt like her and did two jobs at once:
- Show her documentaries properly, with the films themselves front and centre.
- Show the social media content she makes for clients, so small businesses can see what she’d do for them.
- Explain how working with her goes, in plain steps.
- Make it easy to get in touch, with enquiries going straight to her.
What we built
We designed and built a brand-new website from scratch, with a warm 70s and 80s palette, a daisy logo and big, confident type.
- A film-leader intro: a countdown like the start of a reel opens the site, then a rainbow curtain reveals her name. It plays once per visit, can be skipped, and has a calmer version for visitors who prefer less motion.
- Her films, front and centre: three documentaries, newest first, each with a poster, synopsis and full credits. Press play and the film loads right there.
- A film strip of stills: each still is a moment from one of her films, and tapping it opens that film at that exact point. On phones the strip can be swiped.
- Client work as profiles: each client gets a card, and tapping it opens their videos and Instagram.
- How it works: four simple steps from first message to finished content.
- A contact form that just works: enquiries arrive in her inbox as a branded email, ready to reply to.
Take a look around
Hover over the browser to scroll through the homepage, or scroll inside the phone to see how it looks on a mobile.
Hover to scroll the page
A few more parts of the site (tap to enlarge):
Behind the scenes
- Fast, secure hosting on Cloudflare Pages, with her domain moved across and updates going live in one command.
- Her films stay on Vimeo and only load when someone presses play, so the page stays quick.
- Her own email address on her domain with Google Workspace, plus a logo, profile pictures and an email signature to match the website.
- The contact form sends through a small piece of code on her site, so there’s no third-party branding on her emails.
- Built phone-first and checked on desktop, tablet and mobile.
What Violette said
Violette left us this review on Google after her website went live:
I honestly couldn’t be happier with the service I received from Freddie! From the very beginning, he understood exactly what I wanted for my website and brought my vision to life beautifully. He took the time to really listen, understand my personality and make sure the design reflected who I am and what I wanted my brand to represent.
Freddie was incredibly patient, attentive, and professional throughout the whole process. Nothing ever felt like too much trouble, and he made sure every detail I wanted included was taken into consideration. What really stood out was how quickly he completed everything without compromising on quality.
If you’re looking for someone to design your website who is talented, patient and truly cares about getting things right, I couldn’t recommend this company enough. Thank you for bringing my vision to life and creating a website that feels like me! I’m so grateful for all your hard work. 🌟 ✨ 🌞
See the website at violettefoley.com.