Every time we launch a new website in the interactive department at Mad Genius, we joke about how it feels like another baby is all grown up and heading out into the world. We’re proud of each and every one of them, and that pride is tenfold when national organizations and publications recognize our work.
Today, the authoritative design magazine Communication Arts highlighted the website for Sweet Magnolia Gelato Co. in its online Webpicks section. For 56 years, CA has been “the premier source of inspiration for graphic designers, art directors, design firms, corporate design departments, advertising agencies, interactive designers, illustrators and photographers—everyone involved in visual communication.”
In the Webpicks feature, Communication Arts noted the marriage of design and development in Sweet Magnolia’s site, stating, “Mad Genius brings the gelato brand to life with eye-catching, mouthwatering SVG animations,” and calling the site “sophisticated [and] artful.” Interactive Creative Director Ryan Farmer notes that Sweet Magnolia is our most ambitious animated SVG project so far.
The feature is a particular source of pride for our team, many of whom credit reading and following Communication Arts for years as a vital part of their growth as designers and creatives.
The recognition from Communication Arts comes on the heels of a flurry of other accolades from websites and organizations nationwide. Since launching in late December 2015, Sweet Magnolia Gelato’s website has been featured on the web design sites The Best Designs, Web Designer News, UpLabs and Best Web Gallery. CSS Winner also honored Sweet Magnolia as Site of the Day in February, and recently the site Awwwards, which states its purpose as being “the awards that recognize the talent and effort of the best web designers, developers and agencies in the world,” accepted Sweet Magnolia as a “Best Website” nominee. The site also won Best in Show—Interactive at the 2016 AAF Jackson Addy Awards.
Hugh Balthrop, founder and owner of Sweet Magnolia Gelato Co., says the new site came about at just the right time, as he has grown his business significantly in the past year.
“This year we’ll be celebrating our fifth year in business,” he says. “We’ve seen a lot of traffic on the website, gotten a lot of phone calls because of it. We’ve got some deals that we hope to close soon. We’re about to buy a new truck so we have more room to deliver. Things are really falling into place.”
But beyond a solid business decision, Hugh also appreciates the visual inspiration his new website provides.
“I‘m inspired by it,” he says. “My background is creative, I had an art gallery before I moved to the Delta. So people are always asking me, what do I look for in art? And I look for what I’m inspired by. I see the website as art, and it inspires me.”
