Case study · b2b-service
How we built Look in Leeds, an editorial directory of the city's creative scene
Look in Leeds is a directory of the creative studios, agencies and freelancers working in Leeds, and the businesses that back them.
The challenge
A directory is the easiest thing in the world to build badly: a table, a search box, and nothing anyone wants to look at twice. For a directory of creative studios that is fatal, because the site is being judged by exactly the people it lists. It had to work as a directory and stand up as a piece of design.
What we built
- The Wall: the directory itself, with filter chips carrying a live count so the result set is legible before you scroll it
- An editorial landing page with a kinetic wordmark marquee, a teaser into the Wall and a strip of the Leeds businesses backing it
- A cursor-follower interaction as the site's signature, built to carry the design DNA rather than decorate it
- A strict visual system - jet black, off white and coral, with oversized uppercase type - held consistently across the build
- Cookieless analytics, so the site carries no consent banner, plus validated form handling and uptime monitoring configured as code
The result
Look in Leeds runs as a working directory that the studios it lists are happy to be seen on. Presented deliverable-led: no traffic or listing figure is claimed here.