The brief
Ardglass Fish Smokers
A family smokehouse behind the harbour wall in Ardglass, oak smoking fish the slow way since 1923.
This is the brief all three models received, word for word apart from the layout. The instructions also fixed the pages to build and the rules: static pages, Bunny fonts, no invented facts, no sideways scrolling from 390px to 1440px, WCAG AA contrast.
- Entity
- Name
- Ardglass Fish Smokers
- One liner
- A family smokehouse behind the harbour wall in Ardglass, oak smoking fish the slow way since 1923.
- Offerings
- Oak smoked salmon, sliced packs (core product)
- Whole sides of smoked salmon for a big spread
- Gift boxes of smoked salmon, trout and mackerel, especially for Christmas
- Smoked trout
- Smoked mackerel
- Smoked eel, when in season
- Wholesale supply to hotels, fishmongers, delicatessens and restaurants
- Mission
- Keep smoking fish the way the family always has, and bring it to people at home, including Ardglass folk who have moved away, while continuing to serve long-standing trade customers.
- Differentiators
- Family business since 1923, four generations
- Oak smoked, slow cured over days, not hours
- Family recipe dating back to 1923
- Original 1923 kiln still standing behind the harbour wall
- Head smoker Paddy, forty years at the kilns
- SALSA certified
- Mackerel and eel landed locally off Ardglass
- Stage
- Established trade business moving into direct-to-consumer sales
- Geography
- Harbour Road, Ardglass, Co. Down, Northern Ireland. Trade customers in Belfast and Glasgow. Home delivery chilled across the UK and the Republic of Ireland.
- People
- Name
- Declan
- Role
- Owner, runs trade relationships, has answered the main line for forty years
- Name
- Paddy
- Role
- Head smoker, forty years at it; to be featured and photographed, with a few lines in his own words
- Name
- Owner's son/daughter (interviewee, name not given)
- Role
- Leading the move into home sales and the new website
- Sourcing
- Salmon
- Farmed, mostly from Scotland (to be stated plainly)
- Mackerel
- Landed locally off Ardglass
- Eel
- Landed locally off Ardglass, seasonal
- Trout
- From a farm inland, not far from Ardglass
- Note
- Paddy can name exact suppliers later. Long-trusted suppliers, not the cheapest boat.
- Audience
- Primary
- Who
- Home customers across the UK and Ireland, especially people from Ardglass and Co. Down now living in Dublin, London and elsewhere, plus gift buyers at Christmas
- Wants
- The taste of home, a proper gift, genuine smoked fish they can trust arriving chilled
- Trust needs
- Proof it is a real, long-established family firm (1923, four generations)
- SALSA certification
- Five-star food hygiene rating
- Honest sourcing information
- Clear chilled delivery and collection information
- Photographs of the real smokehouse, kiln, people and product
- Desired feeling
- This is the real thing, made by people I can trust, and it tastes of home.
- Primary action
- Buy sliced salmon, a whole side or a gift box from the online shop
- Secondary
- Who
- Trade buyers: hotel buyers, fishmongers, delicatessens, restaurants (Belfast, Glasgow and beyond)
- Wants
- A dependable supplier, easy ordering, the paperwork they need
- Trust needs
- SALSA certification
- Five-star hygiene rating
- Named stockists (once permission given)
- A familiar person on the phone
- Desired feeling
- Reliable, established, easy to deal with
- Primary action
- Ring Declan on 028 4484 1223, email, or log in to the trade area to order
- Who
- Local customers in and around Ardglass
- Wants
- To collect orders, especially at Christmas, without paying delivery
- Primary action
- Order online and choose collection from the smokehouse
- Purpose
- Primary job
- Open a direct-to-consumer front door: sell smoked fish and gift boxes online with chilled delivery or collection.
- Secondary jobs
- Keep trade customers well served: phone and email front and centre, plus a private trade login for regulars
- Tell the family story (1923, four generations, the original kiln, Paddy) so strangers trust the product
- Build a newsletter list, especially Christmas buyers, to bring them back before the next rush
- Help people find the real smokehouse on Harbour Road
- Five second impression
- A real hundred-year-old family smokehouse on the harbour, oak smoking fish slowly, and you can order it to your door.
- Primary cta
- Label
- Shop the smokehouse
- Target
- page
- Secondary ctas
- Label
- Christmas gift boxes
- Target
- page
- Label
- Trade enquiries: ring Declan on 028 4484 1223
- Target
- anchor
- Label
- Trade login
- Target
- page
- Structure
- Pages
- Id
- home
- Label
- Home
- Purpose
- Set the scene on the harbour and the kiln, tell the story in brief, and lead straight to the shop and gift boxes, with a clear route for trade.
- Sections
- Hero: harbour and the original kiln, headline about oak smoking since 1923, Shop CTA
- Short story strip: four generations, oak, days not hours
- Featured products: sliced salmon, whole sides, gift boxes
- Paddy at the kilns: short feature with photograph
- Trust: SALSA, five-star hygiene rating, stockists (when approved)
- Delivery and collection in brief
- Trade panel: Declan, 028 4484 1223, email, trade login
- Newsletter sign-up
- Priority
- 1
- Id
- shop
- Label
- Shop
- Purpose
- Sell sliced salmon packs, whole sides, gift boxes, trout, mackerel and seasonal eel, with delivery or collection.
- Sections
- Product categories
- Product listings
- Delivery and collection note
- Newsletter sign-up for seasonal news
- Priority
- 1
- Id
- christmas
- Label
- Christmas Gift Boxes
- Purpose
- Seasonal landing page for gift boxes and Christmas ordering, order deadlines and collection.
- Sections
- Gift box range
- Order-by dates (to be set)
- Delivery and collection at Christmas
- Newsletter sign-up for next year
- Priority
- 2
- Id
- our-story
- Label
- Our Story
- Purpose
- Magazine-style long read: 1923, the great-grandfather and one kiln behind the harbour wall, four generations, the family recipe, the original kiln still standing.
- Sections
- Beginnings in 1923
- The original kiln
- Four generations
- Archive photographs (Declan c.1998, anything found in the office)
- How we smoke today
- Priority
- 2
- Id
- smokehouse
- Label
- The Smokehouse
- Purpose
- How the fish is made and where it comes from: oak, slow cure over days, the family recipe, honest sourcing, Paddy in his own words.
- Sections
- Oak and the slow cure
- Paddy, head smoker (his own words, to be supplied)
- Where our fish comes from
- Food safety: SALSA and hygiene rating
- Priority
- 2
- Id
- trade
- Label
- Trade
- Purpose
- Explain wholesale supply and keep the familiar way of ordering: Declan's name and phone front and centre, email, enquiry form, and the trade login.
- Sections
- What we supply to trade
- Ring Declan: 028 4484 1223
- Email orders
- Trade enquiry form
- Credentials: SALSA, hygiene rating, Food NI member
- Stockists (with permission)
- Trade login
- Priority
- 2
- Id
- trade-area
- Label
- Trade Area (members only)
- Purpose
- Private area for approved repeat trade customers: trade price list and a trade order form that emails the shared orders inbox.
- Sections
- Trade price list
- Trade order form
- Contact Declan
- Priority
- 3
- Access
- members-only
- Id
- delivery
- Label
- Delivery and Collection
- Purpose
- Chilled delivery by courier across the UK and Republic of Ireland, collection from Harbour Road, costs and any excluded areas (to be decided).
- Sections
- Chilled delivery
- Where we deliver
- Collect from the smokehouse (times to be confirmed)
- Storage and freshness
- Priority
- 3
- Id
- contact
- Label
- Contact
- Purpose
- Address, phone, email, map and how to find the smokehouse behind the harbour.
- Sections
- Address and map
- Phone: 028 4484 1223
- Enquiry form
- Social links
- Priority
- 3
- Nav
- Shop
- Christmas
- Our Story
- The Smokehouse
- Trade
- Contact
- Homepage section order
- hero
- story-strip
- featured-products
- paddy
- trust
- delivery-collection
- trade-panel
- newsletter
- Content
- Key messages
- Oak smoked in Ardglass since 1923
- Four generations, one family recipe
- Slow cured over days, not hours
- The original kiln still stands behind the harbour wall
- The taste of home, sent chilled across the UK and Ireland
- Honest about where our fish comes from
- Proof
- Credentials
- SALSA certified (food safety, kept up to date)
- Five-star food hygiene rating (owner believes five stars; confirm exact rating before publishing)
- Member of Food NI
- Stats
- Established 1923
- Four generations
- Head smoker with forty years' experience
- Same phone line answered by Declan for forty years
- Stockists
- Several Belfast hotels and a well-known Glasgow venue stock the product. Do not name until each has given permission; build a stockists section ready to fill.
- Awards
- None held. Do not imply any awards.
- Existing copy
- Existing site at ardglassfishsmokers.co.uk is badly out of date (includes a fax number). Do not reuse its contact details. Photograph of Declan from about 1998 is on it and may be reused as an archive image.
- To generate
- All page copy in plain, honest UK English
- Placeholder for Paddy's own words on the smoke and the cure
- Product description templates for sliced packs, sides and gift boxes
- Delivery and collection copy with placeholders for costs, areas and times
- Christmas page copy with placeholder order-by dates
- Contact display
- Phone
- 028 4484 1223
- Phone contact name
- Declan
- Phone prominence
- Front and centre on every trade touchpoint and in the header or footer
- Shared orders inbox (see owner.enquiry_email)
- Address
- Harbour Road, Ardglass, Co. Down, BT30 7SA
- Fax
- Do not display
- Photography
- Status
- Professional shoot planned (budget about £5,000). Use stand-ins until delivered.
- Shot list
- Paddy in the smokehouse
- The original 1923 kiln
- Boats coming into Ardglass harbour
- The harbour and harbour wall
- Product: sliced salmon, sides, gift boxes, trout, mackerel, eel
- Family and Declan
- Existing
- Old trade-fair product shots
- Photo of Declan c.1998
- Archive to find
- Possible old photographs or ledgers in the office
- Open items
- Product prices
- Delivery costs and any excluded postcodes
- Collection times
- Stockist permissions
- Paddy's words and supplier names
- Confirm hygiene rating
- Voice
- Personality
- honest
- warm
- plain-spoken
- careful
- unpretentious
- proud without boasting
- Tone
- Warm and down to earth but never sloppy; let facts (oak, days not hours, 1923) do the persuading.
- Formality
- Moderate: neither pub chat nor corporate
- Person
- we/you
- Ban words
- artisanal
- curated
- passionate
- world-class
- premium experience
- elevate
- indulge
- bespoke
- journey
- award-winning
- Reading level
- Plain English, short sentences
- Notes
- Must not sound like a marketing agency wrote it. Say sourcing plainly, including that the salmon is farmed Scottish.
- Visual direction
- Mood
- Restraint expressiveness
- -1
- Classic contemporary
- -1
- Calm energetic
- -1
- Warm cool
- 0
- Refined raw
- 0
- Airy dense
- -1
- Serious playful
- -1
- Understated confident
- 0
- Typography
- Font set
- classic
- Feel
- Classic and trusted: established, serious, reassuring
- Contrast
- Moderate, with generous reading sizes for long-form story
- Character
- Steady and traditional, echoing the arc of lettering in the family logo
- Colour
- Palette
- ink
- Temperature
- Cool base warmed by photography
- Saturation
- Low to moderate
- Brightness
- Light grounds with deep navy
- Accent strategy
- Ink navy as the brand anchor; soft grey grounds; let the amber and coral of smoked fish and oak in photographs provide warmth
- Brand colours
- Navy (from existing logo)
- Avoid
- Bright seaside blues
- Cartoon nautical colours
- Contrast floor
- WCAG AA
- Layout
- Register
- magazine
- Density
- Room to read, pictures set into the writing
- Hero
- Full-width photograph of the harbour and original kiln with a short, plain headline
- Alignment
- Editorial, mixed text and image columns
- Grid
- Magazine grid with feature spreads for story and Paddy
- Rhythm
- Alternating story spreads and product moments, shop always one step away
- Imagery
- Kind
- Documentary photography: real people, real smokehouse, real harbour
- Treatment
- Natural, honest light; no heavy filters
- Iconography
- Minimal, line-based if used
- Motifs
- The original kiln
- The harbour wall
- Oak smoke
- The plain wee fish from the logo
- 1923
- Distinctive signals
- The original 1923 kiln as the site's signature image and motif, possibly drawn into the refreshed logo
- The year 1923 and four generations told as a magazine-style story
- Paddy, head smoker, featured in his own words
- Declan's name and his forty-year phone line front and centre for trade
- Tension
- A century-old family trade, presented with the confidence of a good modern magazine: old but not dated, proud but plainly honest.
- Assets
- Logo
- Status
- Existing 1980s logo, not supplied yet
- Description
- 'Ardglass Fish Smokers' in navy lettering set in an arc, with a plain, simple fish beneath
- Direction
- Refresh, not replace. Keep the arc of lettering, the navy and the simple fish so Declan still recognises it; redraw with more craft. Consider a subtle nod to the kiln.
- Brand colours
- Navy
- Existing site url
- ardglassfishsmokers.co.uk
- Constraints
- Must have pages
- home
- shop
- our-story
- trade
- trade-area
- delivery
- contact
- Languages
- en-GB
- Accessibility
- AA
- Business rules
- Trade phone and email ordering must stay prominent and unchanged
- Do not name stockists without permission
- Do not claim any awards
- Do not publish collection times, delivery costs or prices until the owner supplies them