Tools in practice
A focused marketing website.
Astro, Cloudflare and a build foundation shaped around what the business needs to explain.
Read the perspectiveTools & the thinking behind them
A toolkit.
With a reason.
A tool earns its place by helping the work. Here is a closer look at the platforms and software we work with, why they fit particular jobs and what we consider before recommending a setup.
Start with the jobChoose by the work
What does the project need to do?
An editable website, a growing catalogue and a focused campaign page need different things. These perspectives explain the choice in the context of the business.
Tools in practice
A website your team can keep current.
WordPress, Bricks and ACSS, with the editing jobs and shared design rules planned first.
Read the perspectiveTools in practice
A store built around the range.
Shopify, Dawn and native content relationships, with useful product detail at the centre.
Read the perspectiveTools in practice
Tools that help answer a business question.
Crawls, search evidence and behaviour review, with a clear distinction between visibility and enquiries.
Read the perspectiveTools in practice
The work around the website.
Design, illustration, captured references and reviewable delivery, grounded in the business knowledge.
Read the perspectiveThe foundation comes first
The software follows the understanding.
We learn the business, organise the content and agree what the work needs to do. Our KD framework and FX design foundations help carry that thinking into the website and the assets around it.
The platform choice also needs to account for the next person: who edits, who approves, who owns the accounts and who looks after the result.
How we workA shared foundation helps the next asset stay connected.
An editable website, looked after
The WordPress plugin library.
What the tools help us do, where they fit and how selected licences could be included in a managed WordPress package.
Explore plugins & hosting valueThe working toolkit
Useful in the right context.
A selection across our build, research, design and delivery workflows. Each tool has a job, and each comes with considerations. You do not need to buy the whole kit to have a good website.
Build foundations
Content-led marketing websites
Astro
A useful fit when the main job is explaining the business clearly. We can build reusable pages and add the interactions the site needs around a lean content foundation.
Worth considering. Editing is a separate decision. A coded site needs an agreed update workflow, or a content-management system if the team needs to publish themselves.
Hosting and the infrastructure around it
Cloudflare
This development site uses Cloudflare Pages. Keeping the build and deployment connected gives us a working preview to review before a release.
Worth considering. Static hosting, forms, email and application functions are different responsibilities. We work out which services the business actually needs and who owns the accounts.
Websites with an ongoing publishing job
WordPress
A practical option when the team needs to add articles, services or project stories regularly. We organise the content and editing experience around those repeat tasks.
Worth considering. The flexibility brings ongoing care. Hosting, backups, plugin choices, updates and editing permissions need an owner.
A structured visual build on WordPress
Bricks
Bricks gives us control over page templates, reusable components and dynamic content within a visual WordPress workflow. The aim is a site that can grow without each page becoming a separate design job.
Worth considering. A builder is still a tool for a considered structure. The content model, accessibility, responsive behaviour and handover need to be designed and checked.
Shared design rules for a WordPress build
Automatic.css
Consistent spacing, type, colours and reusable classes make a website easier to extend. ACSS provides a framework for those rules in a compatible WordPress build.
Worth considering. It supports the design system; it does not decide the brand or the content. Someone maintaining the site needs to understand how the shared rules are used.
A store with connected product information
Shopify & native Liquid
For STANDO, native metaobjects, metafields and custom Liquid sections within Dawn connected product detail, collections and promotional content. The structure helped the team reuse the work as the range changed.
Worth considering. We check what the native platform can support before adding an app. Theme changes still need testing against the store, its content and future updates.
Search & measurement
Looking beneath the visible pages
Screaming Frog
A crawl helps us inspect links, titles, redirects and other technical details across a site. That is useful when planning a rebuild or checking whether a change has left something behind.
Worth considering. A flagged issue needs context. We connect it to the affected pages, the business need and what a customer is trying to do before deciding its priority.
Research with a clearer working view
SEO Utils
We use SEO Utils within our research workflow to organise search evidence and investigate the questions behind a recommendation. It helps bring the data back to a service, product, location or content decision.
Worth considering. Data sources have limits and some research has a separate usage cost. A number from a tool needs its source, date and context before it becomes a claim.
Understanding visibility in Google Search
Google Search Console
Search Console helps us see the searches and pages behind impressions and clicks. The useful question is which part of the business is becoming easier to find, and whether the relevant page helps someone take a next step.
Worth considering. Visibility and search clicks are not confirmed enquiries or sales. Reporting needs those distinctions, a date range and a clear next action.
Looking for friction in the experience
Microsoft Clarity
Heatmaps and session recordings can help us investigate where visitors hesitate, miss a useful action or have trouble with a page. We use that as context alongside the content and the working enquiry route.
Worth considering. A recording is a sample of behaviour, not an explanation on its own. Privacy settings, collection choices and the limits of the evidence matter.
Design & delivery
A shared place to explore and review
Figma
When a project needs a shared design canvas, layouts and component ideas can be worked through in Figma before they become a build. It gives the discussion something visual to respond to.
Worth considering. A design file is one stage of the work. Content changes, responsive behaviour and the finished website still need their own review.
Brand assets, images and useful documents
Adobe Creative Cloud
Illustration, image preparation and document design often sit beside the website. Creative tools help prepare the assets for the actual use, from a product explanation to a brochure or a consistent brand reference.
Worth considering. The output format matters. We agree what needs to be print-ready, what belongs online and which editable assets the team will need later.
Capturing a useful reference
Snagit
A dated screenshot can make a review clearer: what was visible, what changed and where a problem occurred. Our research archive includes screen captures that help keep the discussion tied to something real.
Worth considering. A screenshot needs its date and context. Private details should be removed before a capture is shared publicly.
Keeping a record of the build
GitHub
Source history and reviewable changes help us see what changed and check a build before publishing. This website's development workflow keeps the source, checks and deployment records connected.
Worth considering. Source control is one part of recovery. Business data, account access and other assets need their own backup and handover arrangements.
A useful next step
A setup that fits
the way you work.
Tell us what the business needs to do and who will use the result. We can help work through the platform, content and practical details around it.
Let's talk