Hartwell & Co

Hartwell & Co is a concept redesign of a fictional business, not a client project. The scenario: a well-regarded regional accountancy practice whose clients arrive almost entirely through referral.

Offline, the practice was established, trusted and growing. Online, a website built in 2011 and never meaningfully updated was doing nothing to support that reputation.

The existing site was slow, built on an old theme, and unreadable on a phone. Services were listed as a single wall of text. The partners' experience, which is the reason people hire the firm, was buried on a page nobody visited.

Referred prospects were checking the website before calling. Some were not calling. For a practice that wins work on trust, that is the cost of a dated site.

We started with the commercial question: what does a referred prospect need to see to feel confident enough to get in touch? The answer was clarity about who the firm works with, evidence of expertise, and a low-friction way to start a conversation.

The structure was rebuilt around sectors and services, with the people made visible throughout.

A restrained typographic system, a warm neutral palette and generous space give the site the quiet confidence of an established practice. Photography would replace the placeholder panels shown here.

Every page ends with a clear, specific next step rather than a generic contact link.