Member Article

Huddersfield-based recycled jewellery designer carves out success

A Huddersfield-based recycled jewellery company is celebrating the launch of its inspiring new website, marking a new chapter in the journey of an ambitious business venture which started life in a small kitchen in Dalton.

SESH, which stands for Strength, Endurance, Solidarity and Honour, was created in 2012 by James and Stacey Gomes-Siqueira who decided to pursue their passion for transforming recycled skateboards into handcarved jewellery and art. Now established as a respected brand in the UK skateboarding, jewellery and fashion communities, the time had come for SESH to expand its online presence with a professional ecommerce website that reflects the values at the heart of the SESH brand.

Stacey Gomes-Siqueira, co-founder of SESH, said: “From day one we knew that it would be important to have a strong website to bring the SESH brand alive and generate sales online. As a start-up business, finances were tight so we started with a homemade website but it wasn’t something we could really feel proud of. We got married in December 2012 and instead of going on a honeymoon, we saved the money given to us from friends and family to put into a SESH website. We continued savings from sales we made at festivals throughout the summer until we could afford a website that would really make SESH stand out and show its unique identity.”

Huddersfield-based web design company, Splitpixel Creative Ltd, were chosen by SESH to develop a brand new ecommerce website that would bring SESH alive and help the business to grow.

Stacey explained: “We started searching for a web agency but struggled to find a team that understood the unique personality of SESH and what we were hoping to achieve. Everything about SESH is genuine and we needed to find designers and developers that not only had the capabilities, but could also see our vision and become part of the SESH family. SESH really is like a baby to us and as the investment would be a big decision financially for such a small business, we wanted to be sure that we left it in the right hands.”

Stacey added: “The minute we met Splitpixel Creative, we just knew that they understood us and SESH. SESH has so many areas to it and doesn’t simply fit in any particular box. The team at Splitpixel completely understood this and took control to bring everything together and show the personality of SESH and those surrounding it.”

Local photographer and former skateboarder, John Steel, was commissioned to shoot the imagery that would inspire the design of the website. Using friends of James and Stacey as models, the photography and website design shows the life of a skateboard all the way through to being resurrected by SESH, as well as communicating how each person can be resurrected in their own life.

Charlie Kemp, Director at Splitpixel Creative, explained: “The brief was to create a website that showed the true grit and ambition of SESH, the craft involved in each design, as well as offering inspiration, and paying homage to skateboarding and skateboarders. We also focused on creating a design that would appeal to people of all ages, gender and walks of life, in line with the SESH ethos. Having segmented the design into four SESH characters, each with their own personality: Strength, Endurance, Solidarity and Honour, we fulfilled the brief through a careful choice of colour, use of rolling animations and strong photography.”

Since the website launched earlier this month, SESH has seen a huge rise in online sales, as well as a number of enquiries from potential stockists. The company now has big plans for the future, with aspirations to put Huddersfield on the map by becoming the UK’s number one recycled skateboard fashion and art brand, as well continuing to work with skateboarding and youth projects in the local community.

SESH also has a busy summer ahead, with their products on sale at many of the major festivals including; Glastonbury, Isle of Wight, Latitude and Leeds. For more information about SESH and to browse the new website, visit www.ihavesesh.co.uk

Splitpixel Creative is a creative web design agency based in The Media Centre in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. For more information about responsive website design or Splitpixel Creative visit www.splitpixel.co.uk or telephone 01484 483 093.

For more information about John Steel Photography, visit www.johnsteelphotography.com or telephone 01484 714 614.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Rebecca Coupe .