Hoshinoya’s Image-Driven Web Design Places Emphasis On Adventurous Destinations
Hoshinoya is a luxury resort brand with multiple destinations in Asia. It offers relaxing, adventurous and exhilarating experiences for its guests with high-quality accommodations and services.
The brand puts a focus on the experience. And this experience is emulated in its stunning and captivating web design.
From the second you land on the page to the second you make a booking, bright and bold images grab your attention and entice you to reserve your own stay. These photographs are beautiful, with gorgeous scenery, imagery and more taking up most of the design.
Photographs make up the header images and sit in grid-like layouts offering viewers quick and simple access to the multiple destinations this resort has to offer.
These images are bold, with scenes of lush forests, beautiful waterways, serene buildings and memorable experiences.
These images capture these essences of these locations with serenity and tranquility. They encourage a sense of relaxation and peacefulness. But at the same time, they foster a sense of adventure and exploration.
These images give users a peek into what they can expect to experience if they make a reservation. They embody the beauty and wonder of these places in a way that creates a sense of urgency.
This makes people want to book. It makes them feel immersed. It shows them what they’re missing out on and what they’re not willing to lose.
And these high-quality images tell a story of intrigue and sophistication.
Playful Scrolling And Rollover Effects Encourage Interactivity
Exploring the Hoshinoya site is fun and playful thanks to the integration of interesting rollover and scrolling effects. This smooths the discovery process, making it simple and fluid to check out a new destination and learn more about what it has to offer.
Once you choose a destination — whether its Kyoto, Bali or Fiji, you’re brought to a new page with a heavy emphasis on imagery. But as you scroll, new images, text boxes and CTAs pop into view.
And the organic, soft way these content blocks float into the screen eases you along your journey and fills you with a similar sense of ease and tranquility.
In addition to these subtle scrolling effects, there are creative and cool rollover effects that encourage you along your exploratory journey.
When you roll your mouse over images, your mouse turns into an arrow which encourages you to further discover these destinations by sliding through a gallery of surreal photos.
The effects of this website encourage you to keep learning. And it does so in the hopes that you won’t be able to resist the images dancing in front of your eyes. The more you learn, the more you’ll want to book your own stay.
And that’s perfect because once you finish scrolling through the page, you’ll end up at a handy reservation box that will take you right to a menu where you can check dates and prices.
Sophisticated Loading Animations Ease Consumer Tensions While They're On The Site
In addition to the fun and fanciful elements that add depth and playfulness to the design, the creatives behind this website understood the impact consumer tensions can have on the buying process.
So they integrated elements that smoothed the overall design and eased frustrations, including loading page tensions, with the help of creative and regal looking images that form right in front of your eyes as the page loads.
These loading screen animations come in the form of three stacked black and white circles. The top circle encases an image that represents the destination at hand — it could be a mountain, a flower, a bird or another illustration that captures this destination.
The second circle includes Japanese script in a sophisticated and luxurious way. And the bottom circle takes on the shape of a crescent moon, with a circle sitting in the empty space between the two edges that almost looks like a star.
This is a captivating image and the illustrations in the top circle move as the page loads. These animations also morph with the color on the page in a serene way.
This eases confusion and frustration — users don’t like to wait, and slow loading times can cause users to leave a site. But with the help of these animations, those tensions are relieved in a powerful and peaceful way.
Intuitive Navigation Tools Make It Easy To Search The Website
A website could be built in an immaculate and regal way. It could have playful and creative elements infused into its interface showing off its artistic talent. And it could even be promoting a cutting-edge product.
But if users can’t navigate a site, then it’s pretty much useless.
Luckily in the Hoshinoya site, streamlined and sophisticated navigation tools make moving around the website a peaceful and simple experience. A grid-like menu made up of bold typography and eye-catching photographs make choosing a possible destination an easy and fun ask.
And once you get to these pages, clear CTAs to make a reservation slide into the screen. A hamburger menu also sits at the top left of the screen — this allows users to learn more about this destination, like dining options, rooms, services and more. And users have such easy access to these options.
And these options are everywhere! They line the side of the screen and are available again at the bottom of the screen.
The Hoshinoya website doesn’t want any users to feel confused or disjointed. They want the whole experience, from booking to arriving, to be cohesive, fluid and fun. And these nav tools aid in that mission wonderfully.
A Clean And Organized Layout Creates A Platform That Streamlines The Buyer’s Journey
The overall structure of this website is bold, clean and simple. It’s a straightforward platform that consists of high-resolution photography, fanciful and elegant language written out in pretty typography and clear CTAs that lead users along their journey in a serene way.
There is little clicking involved. There is little to no confusion as users navigate — from the grid of destination photos to the autoscrolling galleries and more — this website wants to show users what it’s all about in a to-the-point manner that instantly captures your attention.
At every step of the way, users are encouraged to make a booking. It’s always there, but it’s never overbearing. It just sits as a subtle reminder.
And the creative effects make users actually want to scroll and learn more.
Thanks to a simple and streamlined layout with a heavy emphasis on negative space, people feel confident about this design and are more than happy to interact.
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What Is Hoshinoya?
Hoshinoya is a luxury resort with locations across Asia. It’s part of the larger group Hoshino Resorts. This hotel aligns itself as a destination and an experience for its clients and guests. It owns homes and hotels from Bali to Tokyo, offering exceptional services and experiences that last a lifetime.
The first Hoshino resort opened in 1914 with a hotel in Karuizawa, Nagano. And to celebrate this long legacy of refinement and sophistication, the brand has continued to grow and expand to continue revolutionizing the Japanese travel industry for the better.
The Hoshinoya destinations offer more secluded, elegant and adventurous accommodations for its guests, and they certainly grab attention.
In no simple terms, here is the overall feel and mission at Hoshinoya:
When we search for respite, what is it we are actually looking for? Is it perfection,with every detail exactly as we want and expect it to be? Or is it a deeper connection to the place we visit, experienced by immersing ourselves in the essence of that location--refined, enigmatic, and impossible to replicate? At HOSHINOYA, the location is not simply an incidental backdrop.It is a rich environment of sophisticated cultures and traditions and stunning seasonal sights, sounds,and flavors--the essence that inspires the resort's every luxury and pleasure and enriches its contemporary comforts. Visiting HOSHINOYA is like entering an entirely new world, one that allows guests to discover delights they never imagined existed. It is a place of indulgences that constantly change and evolve, as the resort spreads its roots further into the location and deepens its connection to its unique setting. Those in search of a place's essence will find it here.
The Hoshinoya resorts want to leave people feeling like they’ve entered an entirely new world. It wants to immerse these guests in a whole new culture with a host of new and exciting traditions and feelings.
And this website is the first step in that process, with a dynamic and engaging interface that gives consumers an exciting sneak peek into these experiences.
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Web Design & The Powerful Effects Of A Photographs
The Hoshinoya brand wants to immerse its guests in the traditions and cultures of each of its resort destination. And in much the same vein, its website aims to do the same. And it’s this initiative that makes the design so effective.
The image-driven layout is the driving force behind these aims — with high-quality photographs and images leading users along their journey with the help of soothing scrolling and rollover effects.
The cleanliness and organized nature of the site also aid in decreasing confusion and streamlining the buyer’s journey.
This website is an intuitive platform that understands its industry and niche. And it creates an online experience that mirrors the experience they will have when they make a reservation and explore these places for themselves.
