Cool Website: Studio 2015 Jewelers

 

Published in the May 2012 issue

When Tom Dougherty started his first jewelry business in Woodstock, IL, he put “until 2015” on his cards, figuring the year gave him a goal to pursue his passion until he retired. Studio 2015 has blossomed into a 6,000-square-foot destination store for those all over northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin, thanks to its unique craftsmanship and outstanding customer service.

1STORY TELLING: The very personal story behind a pendant unique to Studio 2015 called The Wand is related on the site. The story explains why The Wand would make a lovely symbol of inner courage for anyone going through a trying time. Who could resist a pitch like that?

2TOMMY’S ANGELS: Studio 2015 is not afraid to tell of its charitable activities, and it does so in the unique way of casting all its employees as “angels” in the community, involved in dozens of organizations.

3 COMING SOON: So often a page under construction will just come up with an ugly “404 forbidden” message. Not on this site: You’ll find a nice photo and a message that are working to improve the site.

3 THINGS THAT COULD MAKE IT EVEN BETTER

1NAVIGATION The site uses outlinestyle navigation on the left, in which subcategories open only when you click on the plus sign next to them. That’s a bit confusing at first; it would be more intuitive be able to click on the entire category name as well as the plus sign.

2CAPTIONS There’s a really great gallery that shows the custom process, but for the uninitiated, the photos won’t make much sense without captions.

3SEARCH A search box appears only on some pages. It should appear on every page, in the same position.

Cool Websites are selected by judges and INSTORE editors from among the top-ranked entries in the 2011 America’s Coolest Stores Contest, or they are nominated by readers. Have a cool website? Send us an e-mail to let us know about it:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .