A fascinating experience designing for Saudi business in London

I never get tired of ‘a first’. A completely new experience that takes me (and the team) away from everything we’re used to and then leaves me wondering what other new horizons are out there to conquer next. We’ve just completed one such project – a website for an interior designer in Riyadh. I think the fact that Yasmin Alsdais is a woman isn’t necessarily that remarkable to me, but in the context of her business which is growing fast and being hugely successful in Saudi Arabia, it’s most definitely a different (and very admirable) story. Given both that fact and the ease in which we worked across two continents, I’m particularly proud to be associated with the endeavour. It’s been a great experience and opened up a fresh avenue designing for Saudi business in London which I hope is the start of a new chapter of work.

The homepage of our new website for Yasmin Alsdais Interior Design – a great example of our work designing for Saudi business in London

Reflecting the Yasmin Alsdais aesthetic

As we began this project, I remember discussing how we really wanted to get under the skin of a rather different aesthetic from the British design houses that we usually work with. At the beginning of many of our London-based interiors branding and web design projects we often receive portfolio imagery showing spare, clean unadorned interiors and architecture. So I was curious what we were going to be working with for a designer from the Middle East – even one trained in the UK! In truth, I think that working and adapting to a new design sensibility was always part of the appeal.

When it came to our design process, the Yasmin Interiors site evolved into an extension of her signature brand of sleek, deluxe, futuristic interiors which reference Middle Eastern, North African and European tropes. We devised a website which sets off these influences, ensuring the project has an easy-to-use, elegant, spare layout which frames the work within allowing the projects to be the star of the show.

In particular the site looks terrific on smartphones. Locally in Saudi, clients old and new will chiefly be seeing the site in their hand, so it’s been devised to work perfectly in that environment. It’s also a slick, swift download as our mobile-sized images are downsized for cellular networks rather than solely superfast wifi.

Our new website for Yasmin Alsdais Interior Design – a great example of our work designing for Saudi business in London

Framing new horizons

When we’re beginning a new job, we always ask who the target audience is. Depending on the client, there are always different takes on which they want to be the largest constituency. However sometimes it’s less a choice and more a reality of the existing circumstances. That’s the case here because the incoming traffic to the site is overwhelmingly from Yasmin’s sizeable Instagram community.

Social media led web traffic is all well and good – so long as it generates business. With this in mind, we’re aiming our site at potential clients who want to move beyond a casual interest in her work and life. The long-term goal is to provide a platform where that audience and a pool of referrals consider hiring the company for design work. These are in particular homeowners or business managers in Saudi, the Gulf States (GCC) – perhaps even people with second homes in the UK and other parts of Europe.

This concept of an international crossover is particularly interesting to us since we’re able to offer a European perspective. This way of thinking has gone on to influence every aspect of our attitude to this project, ensuring the visual look of the website and its tone of voice is seen as being ‘Middle Eastern with a London sensibility’.

There’s a first time for everything, but when a project is this straightforward and successful, I’d say it bears repeating.

Our new website for Yasmin Alsdais Interior Design – a great example of our work designing for Saudi business in London

Next steps designing for Saudi business in London

Having completed this website for Yasmin, we’re continuing our work with her on a variety of future endeavours. It’s my great hope that this will lead to other collaborations in Saudi Arabia and throughout the GCC – and we’d welcome enquires from prospective clients. Call us on +44 20 7351 4083.

Find out more about this project

Visit the Yasmin Interiors website

More of our work on web design for Interiors Specialists