Books at One

Books at One is a unique, community-focused social enterprise in Ireland with the unique aim of uplifting local communities with independent bookshops. As well as supporting bookshops all over Ireland they also have two of their own stores in Letterfrack, Co. Galway and Louisburgh, Co. Mayo.

The site itself had a unique job to fulfil. It had to act both as an ordinary bookshop’s online store but also as a repository for independent bookshops all over Ireland to come and learn more about running a business in Ireland. This means it is effectively two websites in one.

We did plenty of work examining similar websites all over the world and working with the people at Books at One to understand their needs and wants for this unique task.

The design itself is light, airy and inviting while still being polished and refined. There are lots of little touches over the site such as animations, hover effects and a changing gradient background at the top some pages. As well as those visual effects there is also the ability to donate and obviously an ecommerce functionality.

Going back to the repository aspect, the site has an interactive map of bookshops that Books at One have helped with their Community Fund all over Ireland as well the Light Bulb guide for independent bookshops in Ireland that features interviews and Q & A’s with bookshop owners.

Be sure to check out the site itself to see all aspects of the work and maybe order a book while you are there to help support this great imitative.