Website Rebuild for FNB Art Joburg from Adobe XD Designs
FNB Art Joburg is Africa’s leading and longest-running contemporary art fair in South Africa, bringing together artists, galleries, collectors, and cultural institutions from across the continent and globally.
Client
Skill-set utilised
- Pixel-perfect design implementation from UI systems into production
- Custom website development and front-end engineering
- Modular CMS architecture with flexible content components
- Component-based content systems for scalable page building
- Fully responsive, mobile-first development across all devices
- High-performance, scalable architecture for content-heavy platforms
Website URL
Project brief
A Premium Digital Platform for FNB Art Joburg
The client required a premium website rebuild to reflect their position as South Africa’s leading contemporary art fair. The platform needed to support a growing content ecosystem and deliver a seamless user experience for multiple audience types, from VIP collectors to the general public. A dedicated VIP portal was also developed, allowing invited guests to register and access exclusive VIP events through a secure, gated area of the website.
The Challenge
FNB Art Joburg required more than a standard website rebuild. The brief called for a custom-built digital platform that reflected the sophistication of a leading contemporary art fair while supporting a complex and evolving content ecosystem.
Key requirements included:
- A custom website aligned with a high-end art and cultural brand
- The ability to manage multi-layered content structures, including events, initiatives, editorial, video, and programme content
- A scalable platform capable of evolving annually with each new edition of the fair
- Strong performance despite rich media, imagery, and storytelling-led content
- A flexible content management system enabling non-technical teams to manage ongoing updates with ease
The core challenge was balancing design-led storytelling with performance, scalability, and usability, ensuring the platform remained both visually immersive and highly efficient to manage.
Our Approach
I developed a fully custom website rebuild based on the supplied designs, focusing on precision front-end execution and a highly structured backend architecture.
01
Design-to-Code Precision
Pixel-perfect implementation of the custom UI system ensured consistency across all templates. Layouts were carefully engineered to accommodate editorial, programme, and event content, with refined typography, spacing, and subtle motion to reflect a premium, art-led experience.
02
Flexible Content Architecture
A robust content structure was created using custom content types for events, initiatives, and editorial features. Modular content blocks enable flexible page building, while the overall architecture supports the complexity of the platform and allows for efficient updates across each annual edition of the fair.
03
Performance & Optimisation
The front-end was engineered to remain lightweight despite visually rich content. Image optimisation techniques were applied for large-format artwork, ensuring fast load times and smooth performance across both desktop and mobile devices.
04
UX for Diverse Audiences
The user experience was designed to support multiple audience types, from visitors and ticket buyers to collectors and media. Clear navigation and a structured content hierarchy ensure key information is easy to access across the platform.
Key Deliverables
- Custom website build tailored to a high-end cultural brand
- Modular content architecture enabling flexible page creation
- Advanced editorial and media-led layout systems
- Structured event and programme content management
- Performance-optimised front-end for fast, efficient delivery
- Fully responsive, mobile-first implementation across all devices
The Outcome
The new website strengthens FNB Art Joburg’s position as a leading platform within the contemporary African art ecosystem, connecting artists, collectors, and audiences globally through a refined digital experience.
A premium digital presence aligned with Art Joburg’s international positioning
Improved usability across complex, multi-layered content structures
Faster performance despite rich, media-heavy editorial pages
A scalable content management system empowering the internal team
A future-ready platform designed to evolve with each annual edition of the fair