Black Ballad is a new generation of publisher, with an editorial proposition that targets a much neglected audience in aspirational black British women. We were charged with the task of designing and building a brand new site that reflected this exciting brand, that would appeal to the demographic and would help to grow its subscription base.

A Digital Magazine

A firm belief in making the content available in exchange for a subscription fee is at the core of Black Ballad’s publishing strategy. With this in mind, we embarked on building a digital magazine with a secure paywall.

Black Ballad already had some existing brand assets which our design team built upon to create the new look and feel for the relaunched website. Bold, positive, relevant and empathetic are all key aspects that we aimed to reflect in the UX and design.

Site users are allowed up to three articles per month before they are encouraged to take the seamless journey to becoming a fully fledged subscriber, of which there are currently two options. Thanks to a tight integration with Stripe (Black Ballad’s payment provider) secure payment is facilitated.

As all editors know, working with a content management system all day can be an arduous task. However, our experienced software development team worked with Black Ballad to simplify and optimise their editorial workflow. The result is a simple-to-use bespoke Content Management System that gives them great control over all aspects of the site.

A platform to grow

Working collaboratively with the Black Ballad team, we have created a new magazine site that is clean and devoid of advertising. They can now focus specifically on content, their subscription model and grow their commercial partners to become a sustainable publisher. We are very excited to continue working with Black Ballad on helping them grow to become an established player in the market.

Take a look

You can see the Black Ballad digital magazine on: www.blackballad.co.uk‍