An online store with a strong sense of purpose

ETICA

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Glowing review

‘I’m not technically-minded but I knew what I wanted from my website. When I explained it to my local it’seeze expert Ann, she just ‘got it’.

We kicked things off with a meeting at a local café - for me it was really important to use a local company and to be able to have that personal contact. I’d done my research online and checked out the reviews. All of the reviews for it’seeze were great, so I felt confident meeting Ann - and I was right to put my trust in it’seeze. They understood that I had a pretty tight budget to work to, found the best options for me, and delivered exactly what I wanted.’

Parah Zangana - Founder, Etica

ETICA website - Make a bloody difference.

The client

Etica was founded on a belief that all women should have access to adequate period care, regardless of their location or circumstances.

Founder Parah Zangana travelled Africa extensively during her early adult life, both for work and on holidays, and was shocked by the lack of basic essentials that so many of us take for granted. After witnessing a community celebration in Malawi for the opening of a toilet block, and feeling humbled by the attention being given to such a basic provision, Parah decided she wanted to give something back to poor communities through the work she did - and the idea of Etica was born.

Take the first step

‘I saw such poverty in Africa, and period poverty is a big part of that for women. They lack the basic essentials to care for themselves, and the lack of sanitation and hygiene products can be so distressing. It made me aware that I wanted to make a difference in some way; to help not only the women in Africa, but women everywhere.’

Etica is an online store with a difference. All Etica products are created with three goals in mind: to help tackle period poverty, to promote vaginal health, and to reduce plastic pollution. Products are made with organic, non-toxic, biodegradable materials and each time a purchase is made, the customers can choose to donate to one of Etica’s partner charities.

The website

When Parah first got in touch with it’seeze, she already had a clear idea of what she wanted from her website. It needed to be bold and colourful and appeal to women from a broad age range (women typically menstruate between the ages of 13 and 50). The overall idea behind the Etica design was for it to be fun but also sensitive and informative. The Etica packaging has a really strong look and this branding is echoed through the whole website, enhanced by big, bright images of women and the natural world.

"Working with Parah and her brand was a joy. She had some brilliant ideas and we were instantly on the same page when it came to how the website should look and feel. She wanted the site to be simple to use, with bold imagery and straightforward purchase options. As a start-up, the budget was limited, however, we talked through all of the options and identified the functionality that would enable Parah to achieve what she needed from her website."

Ann Naylor - it’seeze expert, Windsor

Explore the ETICA website

The build

The ‘brief’ for the Etica website had two key requirements. The first was its bold design, which needed to promote a strong and inspiring brand message. The second was its functionality: the website not only tells the Etica story through brand pages and a blog - it’s also an online store with a twist.

Each time a purchase is made, the customer can choose to donate to either ActionAid or Marine Conservation Society. This extra functionality was an important feature for Parah, so it’seeze’s developers and Parah’s local expert, Ann, worked closely together to make sure the checkout process remained smooth and snag free, and to give Parah the payment options she wanted.

"Etica is a brand with a strong sense of social purpose, so I wanted to avoid a clinical or superficial look. I used warm imagery of 'real women' and a bright but muted palette. The website was thoroughly planned out based on Etica’s branding boards, which helped me figure out how to really showcase their powerful message. We have incorporated fade ins, split columns, animated gifs, rollovers, section backgrounds… the full works! All while maintaining the level of layout simplicity that was so important to the client."

Jess Gully - Senior it’seeze Designer

The results

The completed Etica website provides all the tools Parah needs to run her distance-selling business from home, while supporting the charities she cares about. With Ann always at the end of the phone when needed, Parah is now mostly self-sufficient in the day-to-day managing of her website, and also uses it’seeze’s secure email service to keep in touch with her customers and contacts.

“The it’seeze website editor is really easy to use. Ann trained me on all of its functions before handing the website over and now I find it really simple. It means I can update details or pricing whenever I need to, and add my own blog posts. I would definitely recommend it’seeze to other businesses like mine. From the beginning, communicating has been easy and everything has been done in a really timely way. They basically delivered exactly what I asked for, and within my budget.”

Parah Zangana - Founder, Etica