Project Story: Gardens on Q

Rebekah Pike

This post is the third in a series of project stories, each centered around one of our clients. We’ll take a look at the web design process from the perspective our client, Polly Pearson and her company, Gardens on Q.

Polly Pearson was a gardening enthusiast, long before she dreamed up the idea of launching a special event venue. For many years, the gardens she cultivated on her property in Holdrege, NE were just her hobby – the outworking of her passion for landscapes and an enviable green thumb. The charming, expertly tended gardens created the perfect backdrop for her family’s picturesque 1886 Victorian home.

People urged her to get into the event business, pointing out that outdoor wedding venues were scarce in the area. After many years of hosting private events for friends and family, she finally decided to take the next step.

In search of the perfect web design team

Polly knew that she needed a website that would truly serve her client’s needs and represent her brand. She first heard about Control Yours through a friend Steele Peterson, owner of Simply Steele.

“I had been talking to her for several years about the possibility of opening a business,” Polly said. “I liked her website and I liked how user friendly it was.”

Stepping into the world of design

Polly had a clear vision for the brand, but she needed help bringing it to life. She explained that she was looking for a rustic, yet elegant aesthetic that reflected both the outdoorsy beauty of her property and the upscale services of her company.

“For me it had to have a garden feel and a Victorian feel,” she said. “Those are my things. I really wanted to focus on that – my gardens and my Victorian farmhouse.”

Originally, Polly thought she’d stick with the family name for her property, Flat Tire Farms. But as the design work progressed, she had some misgivings. While the name was meaningful to her family personally, Polly felt that didn’t authentically reflect the brand she wanted to present. After talking it over with our designer, Polly chose the name Gardens on Q and work continued around the new brand.

Control Yours took the design ideas that Polly shared initially and created a custom logo for Gardens on Q. The logo incorporated a vine and floral motif that reflected Polly’s vision for natural inspirations and Victorian influences. A color story of soft grays and white accented by pops of bright, leafy green gradually came to life. Based on the specific needs of Polly’s clientele, Control Yours created a booking calendar and a photo gallery to showcase images of her property.

Close communication and lots of input from all sides were the keys to this successful design story.

Polly described the design work as a collaborative, back-and-forth series of ideas, changes, tweaks and alterations.

“What I really liked about what they did was they really focused on me,” Polly explained. “What’s my target audience? Who do I want to reach? That was the thing that impressed me the most. It was all, ‘Tell us what your vision is and we will come alongside you and offer our skills to build your company.’ They gently guided me through a product that I was very happy with in the end.”

While the idea of building a website from scratch can be intimidating, Polly knew that she could count on Control Yours to have her vision at the heart of every design decision.

“I never would’ve come up with something like that on my own,” she said. “I loved their honesty and openness. It was a very personal relationship.”

Ready to jump into your own design project? We’d love to hear from you!

Give us a call or shoot us an email and let us know how we can help you grow your company!