Noritake: A Simple and Elegant E-Commerce Website

Designing an Oriental-inspired platform for fine china and dinnerware

Made a year ago, Noritake was a flagship flat design project that preceded the trend. The website features a tile-formatting for products and the entire site's grid system, creating a visually appealing and organized layout. The unique branding in the footer, with its subtle yet detailed typography, adds to the overall elegance of the design. The goal was to create a simple and elegant website that utilized appropriate whitespace and flat design elements.

Choi utilized Photoshop's internal grid system to establish the UI feel of the design. Adobe Illustrator was then employed to create the distinct footer branding. Rejecting the popular skeuomorphic approach, Choi opted for a flat interface that would align with the simplicity and elegance of the oriental culture. The result is a user-friendly design that effectively solves the design challenges faced.

The Noritake website boasts several interactive features. When hovering over product listings, the images zoom in to provide a better view. The home page showcases a custom slider, displaying various products. In the gallery, hovering over the "view" icons reveals a detailed view of specific products. Users can easily add products to their cart by hovering over the desired item in the image.

The UI design for Noritake began in August 2012 and was finalized in October of the same year. The main challenge was to create an informative and creative design while maintaining simplicity and elegance. Choi's decision to go against the grain and adopt a simple, modern, and flat design approach successfully tackled this obstacle.

Noritake's exceptional design was recognized with the Bronze A' Design Award in the Website and Web Design category in 2014. This prestigious award is bestowed upon designs that showcase outstanding creativity and resourcefulness while incorporating best practices in art, science, design, and technology. Noritake's contribution to improving the quality of life through its technical and creative skills makes it a true winner.