One of the larger projects that FutureLab worked on last year was the website design and development for Integrated Maintenance Group, a medium-sized New Zealand engineering company.

Integrated Maintenance Group, or IMG, were established in 2003 and have gone on to produce highly customised, multi-million dollar projects for various sites around New Zealand.

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Advancing Website Technology

Despite IMG’s advancements in engineering technology, their website had been in need of an update for several years.

On the right you can see the old website. It uses a border and confines the text to the central box, a common design feature from 5-10 years ago.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”3/4″][vc_single_image image=”19079″ img_size=”full” img_link_large=”yes” qode_css_animation=””][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” css_animation=””][vc_column][vc_separator type=”transparent” up=”20″ down=”20″][vc_column_text]Here’s a few reasons why the website was in need of an update:

• With the surge in smartphones and users browsing the internet using a variety of devices, having a mobile-responsive website allows companies to reach all segments of their intended audience.
• Animated features. Modern websites now include plenty of animated features, such as scrolling imagery, rotating elements and interactive Google Map locations. IMG’s new website utilises modern, sophisticated web design and development.
• Changes in web design trends. Web design has come a long way in the last few years, and trends have changed too. A modern website will have more white space on the page rather than overcrowding, and while designs are minimalist they still convey subtle branding.

Updating IMG’s design

IMG wanted a website that would look modern and rank them with other leading engineering companies around the world. Their website was years old and did not help IMG’s branding as a world-class engineering company. However, the company did not want to stray too far from their roots, and the website still needed to be appealing and easy to use for their target audience.

IMG had already had some designs created for their new website, but didn’t feel they were quite ‘right’. So IMG brought FutureLab on board. We came up with wireframes, using the existing designs as a base, and hit on the right look and feel for IMG’s requirements.

Once we knew we were on the right track, FutureLab produced a design mock-up for each page, working to finalise the overall look and feel of the IMG site. Signing off each page design was important so that development could get underway as soon as possible.

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Working for a tight deadline

Since IMG’s website update had been a while in the making before FutureLab came on board, IMG were keen to see the website finished and live well before Christmas.

The design and development team worked in tandem. Once each page mock-up had been signed off, it went straight to development, rather than waiting until all designs were ready. This helped us power through the numerous pages while leaving plenty of time for feedback and tweaks before the go-live date.

In total, the whole process from web design, development to going live, took just over a month.

The End Result

With only a couple of minor setbacks, the new IMG website was launched on 17 December 2015, collecting positive feedback from friends and staff.

IMG was a great project for FutureLab to showcase our design skills, plus work under pressure to a tight deadline. The end result is a website both IMG and ourselves are proud to put our name to!

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