Founded in 2017, Cornerstone Companies is a luxury impact window and door dealer. Cornerstone provides custom fenestration solutions for architects and builders who create luxury, innovative residential homes. Based in West Palm Beach, FL, Cornerstone provides impact windows and doors throughout the state. The company is partnered with six major fenestration manufacturers: Brombal Group, ESWindows, Fleetwood, Kolbe, Marvin, and Oikos.

Role

Brand Strategist / Copywriter / Designer / Developer

The Challenge

How can we create a space to introduce the new brand, showcase featured projects, and encourage the audience to work with Cornerstone in an easy and meaningful way?

The Users

Primary

Architects
Professionals, problem-solvers, and seekers of design continuity, this audience looks for partners that help facilitate their process. Each home is an artistic expression of their client’s dreams and a testament to their skill, in which every detail is thoughtfully considered.

Builders
Strong-willed and successful, the builder’s reputation is priceless. They look for partners whose products reinforce the superior quality of the home itself. Every home is a mark of personal pride: a direct reflection of their ability to consistently deliver something remarkable.

Secondary

Homeowners
Educated, successful and savvy, the homeowner is at the heart of the home building process. They seek out architects and builders to craft their perfect home. While Cornerstone does not directly work with homeowners, the team understands that homeowners are their client’s clients.

The Process

Step 1 – Value Proposition Design

I sat down with the founders, sales managers, project managers, and architectural designers to fill out the value proposition canvas to better understand their audience, their problems and how Cornerstone solves them.

Step 2 – Branding / Copy

Working the sales team, we used the StoryBrand framework to fill out the website’s homepage.

Step 3 – Wireframe

Having a draft of the website copy, I started to wireframe the website in desktop and mobile versions.

Step 4 – Mockups

After the wireframe was completed, I created the mockups.

Step 5 – Approval

Once the mockups were completed, I reviewed them with the team.

Step 6 – Development

After receiving approval, I started to develop the website using WordPress.

Step 7 – Testing

In a staging environment, I conducted user testing with the Cornerstone team to make sure the website functioned properly and as expected.

Step 8 – Live Environment

After testing was completed, it was time to upload the website to the Cornerstone domain.

Tools Used

Software
Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, WordPress

Research
Value Proposition Canvas, StoryBrand Framework

Research

My first step of research was talking with the team. The operations and sales team had great insight into the problems builders and architects have expressed to them over the years. Also, some of the team had previously worked as a project manager for a builder or architect. The team proved invaluable in understanding the primary audience.