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It’s hard not to be star-struck when dealing with Natalie Merchant. The singer/songwriter fronted the seminal alt-rock band 10,000 Maniacs before breaking off on her own in 1993 to being an illustrious solo career that is still going strong.

We were lucky to serendipitously meet Natalie’s team as they were searching for a website development shop to work with. We soon discovered that we shared the same anything-is-possible attitude with the work ethic to perfect every detail.

Natalie took a very interactive approach, channeling the same creativity behind her music into an unprecedented online anthology of inspired work. The site’s user interface is ergonomic and intuitive, pleasing the eye with a delicate yet deliberate sense of design. As a testament to Merchant’s generosity (as well as her new media savvy), the site is filled to the brim with rich media.

Now a year after launch, NatalieMerchant.com has attracted over half a million unique visitors and three million pageviews. We’re proud of our continued relationship with Natalie and her team, and look forward to more exciting digital projects in the future.

The Process: After an initial consultation with Natalie, we had a good idea of the direction she wanted her website to go in. During the wireframing process we settled on a this with a simple yet elegant navigation system that segments her career into distinct periods, each containing a rich portfolio of lyrics, photos, video and audio. We entered into the design phase with special consideration of the ‘ergonomic feel’ Natalie wanted. We achieved this with a minimalist design by allowing the content to shine within graceful negative spaces. The structure is disarmingly simple, always enticing the user to read, watch and listen. While the main purpose of the site is to showcase Natalie’s work, it also contains a news section, an events calendar, mailing list and contact page that all seamlessly blend into the overall presentation.