This Web Design Case Study explores the creation of a digital sanctuary for Sam Steele, a prominent Highland poet and children’s author. My goal was to build a centralised, professional platform that showcases his books and high-quality audio recordings in a clean, modern environment.
While his stories were loved by those who found them, he lacked a centralised, professional platform to showcase his books, share his live performances/audio recordings, and connect with retailers.
I was brought in to build a custom website that would act as the official home for his characters, while remaining clean, accessible, and ready for commercial growth.
Sam’s work spans multiple generations. He writes heartfelt poetry for adults and whimsical, rhyming stories for children. The challenge was to create a space that felt sophisticated enough for his poetry, yet warm and inviting enough for his children’s books.
Technically, the site needed to do a lot of heavy lifting. We needed a system to play high quality audio samples directly on the page, an easy to navigate bookstore, and a place for Sam to share his personal stories from his desk in the Highlands.
I looked at how independent authors and creators typically display their work. Many author sites are cluttered, hard to navigate, or look like they belong in the a very different era. Geocities, I’m looking at you!
I decided to go in the opposite direction. I chose a minimalist, editorial layout with plenty of white space. This approach allows the colourful illustrations by Sarah-Leigh Wills and Sam’s own landscape photography to be the stars of the show.
Sam’s poetry is meant to be heard. To showcase this, I built an audio player directly into the book pages. Visitors can listen to high quality clips of Sam reading his work before they decide to buy. This adds a massive layer of immersion and proof of quality that many standard author sites just do not have.
I designed the books page to function like a high end boutique. Instead of a cramped grid of tiny thumbnails, each book gets its own dedicated section with a clear summary and a prominent call to action. This makes browsing effortless on both desktop and mobile devices.
People buy from people. Sam has a fascinating life (he even runs a local B&B). I built an about page featuring a clean, nine square grid of photos charting his life. This grid breaks up the heavy text and lets visitors instantly connect with the man behind the microphone.
We successfully launched a site that strikes the perfect balance between a creative portfolio and a hard working commercial shop.
The website is now fully prepared for Sam’s appearance at the Edinburgh Fringe later this year. With clean contact forms and clear social links, it acts as a perfect digital hub for media inquiries, book sales, and fan engagement.
You can view the live site and explore Sam’s world at samsteelepoet.co.uk.