Winchester Independents Directory Case Study

Winchester Independents

Bringing Winchester’s independent businesses together

Winchester Independents is an initiative run by Winchester Business Improvement District, created to champion the independent retailers, hospitality venues, food and drink businesses, services and local destinations that give Winchester its character.

Having supported Winchester Independents for a number of years through the design and production of its printed map, Think Creative helped evolve the project into a connected digital directory. The aim was to improve the experience for visitors, increase visibility for independent businesses, and make the ongoing management of the printed map more efficient. The result is a cohesive print and digital platform that brings together a custom illustrated map, a headless Next.js website, a Laravel backend, searchable business listings and a streamlined export process for future print production.

Services

Web development Web design Visual identity Laravel Print design Illustration Brand refresh Graphic design UX design Design systems Artwork & production Digital design Social assets Web hosting & service Creative direction Animation & video

Sectors

Community & education Local business

Person with tattooed hands using the Winchester directory website on their laptop.

Supporting independent Winchester

For years, Winchester Independents has helped people discover the city’s independent shops, cafés, restaurants, bars, salons, services and experiences through a printed map distributed across Winchester. With up to 10,000 copies printed every six months, the map has become a practical guide for tourists, residents and visitors looking to explore Winchester city centre and support local businesses.

As the number of businesses, categories and locations continued to grow, Winchester Business Improvement District needed a more flexible way to maintain the directory, update business information and extend the reach of the campaign beyond print. We helped turn the printed map into a digital platform, giving Winchester Independents a searchable online directory that supports the physical guide while making the experience more useful, accessible and up to date.

Laptop mockup, postcards and Winchester map laid out on a wooden surface.

Winchester independents maps laid out flat on a grey marbled surface.

Person holding and mobile phone open on the Winchester independents directory home page.

Illustration, campaign collateral and local character

The visual identity of Winchester Independents is built around warmth, colour and a strong sense of local pride. We developed an illustration style that celebrates Winchester’s landmarks, streets, cafés, shops and independent spirit. From the Cathedral and city centre architecture to category icons and social campaign graphics, the artwork gives the project a distinctive and memorable look.

Alongside the website and printed map, we have supported Winchester Independents with advertising, social assets and wider promotional collateral to help increase awareness of independent businesses across the town.

Mobile phone with search filter mockup and Winchester map on a green sofa.

A headless Next.js and Laravel platform

To support the digital directory, we developed a headless web application using Next.js on the front end and Laravel on the back end. This architecture gives the Winchester Independents Directory a fast, responsive and scalable digital foundation, while allowing business data to be managed more efficiently behind the scenes.

The Next.js front end provides a sleek user experience for browsing, searching and filtering independent businesses, while the Laravel backend manages the directory content, business listings, categories, streets and exportable data. By separating the front-end experience from the backend management system, the platform can deliver a polished public-facing directory while giving Winchester Business Improvement District a more practical way to maintain and update business information.

Business card component for Abbey Mill over an image of the buildings in Winchester

Searchable, filterable and easy to explore

The Winchester Independents Directory was designed to help users find the right local businesses quickly. Visitors can browse the full directory, search by name or keyword, filter by business type, and explore businesses by street. This makes the platform useful for tourists planning a visit, residents looking for something specific, or people simply wanting to shop local and explore more of Winchester.

Business categories include food and drink, shopping, health, hair and beauty, house hunting, places to stay, activities, games and other independent services across the city centre. Each listing gives users a clearer route to discover local businesses, while the wider directory helps showcase the breadth and variety of Winchester’s independent economy.

Search filter component with various coloured star icons, overlaying an image of Winchester high street.

Person holding a tablet open on the independents directory page.

Connecting digital content to print production

One of the most important parts of the project was improving the maintenance process behind the printed map. Before the digital directory, managing business changes across print could be time-consuming, especially when businesses opened, moved, changed details or needed to be recategorised. The Laravel backend now acts as a structured directory database, allowing business information to be kept in one place. From there, the directory data can be exported and used to support updates to the printed Winchester Independents map.