Erin Gardner is a pastry chef and winner of Food Network’s Sweet Genius. Erin initially contacted me back in 2010 for a baking website design for her passion at the time, Wild Orchid Baking Company, a custom cake studio located on the coast of NH. She’s since moved on to publishing two books and has become the confectionary educator everyone seeks. From professional pastry chefs to home bakers, visitors to the site are presented with recipe after recipe of baked goodness. Her new site is a perfect representation of her baking prowess.
When Erin first reached out, her original Wild Orchid Baking Company website had served its purpose but no longer reflected where her career was heading. As her audience grew from local cake clients to a national following of baking enthusiasts, the site needed to evolve. We needed a baking website design that could showcase her recipes, books, and teaching while keeping her personality front and center.
The design process began with understanding Erin’s audience. Professional pastry chefs visit the site for advanced techniques, while home bakers come looking for approachable weekend projects. The site had to serve both without alienating either. We settled on a clean, image-forward layout that lets Erin’s stunning food photography do the heavy lifting.
Building the site with WordPress was the clear choice for a content creator like Erin. She publishes new recipes regularly and needed the ability to manage her own content without calling a developer. The platform’s flexibility also allowed us to integrate her published books, media appearances, and teaching schedule into a cohesive experience.
Typography and color were carefully chosen to feel warm and inviting, like walking into a bakery. The palette complements her photography rather than competing with it. Every element was designed to keep visitors browsing, exploring recipes, and ultimately purchasing her books or signing up for her baking classes.
Since launching the redesigned site, Erin has continued to grow her audience and expand her brand. The site handles steady traffic from recipe seekers and serves as a hub for all of her professional endeavors. It’s a site that works as hard as she does, freeing up her time to focus on creating the content her audience loves.
Erin Gardner
Design, Development
Typeface
Color Palette
Website
Responsive
