The project began with a clear design brief that outlined Queenstown Paving Ltd’s goals: to establish a credible online presence, showcase their services, and increase client inquiries. This helped clarify the site’s content structure and tone, ensuring early alignment between myself and the client. From the outset, I treated this project as an opportunity to deepen my web design skills while experimenting with AI tools to support different stages of the UX process.

For imagery, I used pre-existing imagery supplied by the client and sourced high-quality photos from Unsplash, prioritising landscape shots that reflected Queenstown’s environment, in line with the brief’s preference for local scenic content.

Once I began gathering imagery, I noticed consistent visual themes: earthy textures, natural stone tones, and the distinctive colours of the Queenstown landscape. These visuals helped guide the direction of the colour palette, inspiring a grounded, natural feel that complemented the paving work without overwhelming it. Rather than starting with colour in isolation, I let the imagery inform the tone – resulting in a palette that felt cohesive, site-specific, and aligned with the client’s brand and environment.

I used Khroma, an AI-powered colour tool, to generate combinations that matched this direction. I also pulled colours direct from the imagery using the eyedropper tool, ensuring the tones were authentic and harmonious with the visuals.

From there, I carefully tested each pairing to ensure they met WCAG contrast standards, particularly in text overlays, button styles, and background sections. This approach ensured the site was visually aligned with the brand and was accessible and easy to navigate across devices.

To kick off layout exploration, I used Uizard, an AI-powered wireframing tool, to generate a rough UI template. This helped me test structural ideas quickly, especially in terms of content hierarchy and CTA placement. The tool provided a flexible starting point, which I then refined into a more tailored layout that supported scannability and focused user actions – like getting a quote or browsing services.

To accelerate the content development phase, I leveraged ChatGPT in a collaborative and interactive way. I first asked it to act as a marketing consultant, prompting me with questions about the business, values, and goals. Using my responses, ChatGPT helped generate a range of slogan ideas and sample content.

I then used the tool to draft initial text for key areas of the site, including the hero headline, service descriptions, and calls-to-action, tailoring prompts to match a trustworthy, professional, and local tone. This approach allowed for efficient creative exploration and iteration while ensuring the messaging aligned closely with the client’s brand and vision. I tailored the generated content to match the business tone, and worked with the client to review and refine.

To explore potential typography pairings, I used Fontjoy, an AI-powered tool that generates font combinations based on contrast and visual harmony. While it was a helpful starting point for inspiration, I ultimately made a custom selection that better aligned with the brand’s personality and the overall feel of the site.

The final pairings were chosen to reflect the rugged, grounded nature of the paving industry and the Queenstown landscape, while still feeling modern, professional, and easy to read. I prioritised accessibility by ensuring good legibility across sizes and weights, especially for body text and headings. The typography supports a clear visual hierarchy and complements the colour palette and imagery, helping to create a cohesive and user-friendly experience.

This project was an opportunity to combine creative direction, UX thinking, and hands-on execution, while also exploring how AI tools can enhance the design process. I learned that when used intentionally, tools like Khroma, Uizard, and ChatGPT can accelerate ideation, reduce blank-page pressure, and free up time to focus on refinement and strategy. That said, I also found that human judgement and critical thinking remained essential, particularly when it came to aligning visual choices with brand context and ensuring accessibility throughout.

Working with a real client also reinforced the importance of clear communication, content approval cycles, and balancing creative ambition with practical business needs. I became more confident in setting a visual direction, structuring web content, and making design decisions that serve usability and aesthetics.

While this project is still a work in progress, it helped me grow as a designer and as a digital problem-solver, and left me excited to keep exploring how technology and creativity can work hand-in-hand to deliver meaningful experiences.