“We’ve got the words, the wireframes, and a deadline.”

Let’s be real — this wasn’t some dreamy project with endless budget and time to meditate on pixels. It was practical. The client had clear ideas and wanted things done efficiently. But they also didn’t want boring.

Here’s what we got on day one:

• A sitemap written in plain English (refreshingly clear)
• All page copy in a shared doc — complete with notes like “this bit should be funny”
• Wireframes scribbled in Figma with “section to be illustrated” tags
• A Slack invite and a list of non-negotiables:
  • “Don’t make it look corporate.”
  • “We hate popups.”
  • “Keep Stripe simple.”
  • “We want illustrations. Actual ones. Not icons with shadows.”

They needed more than a webshop. They needed a story, personality, and tech that didn’t fight them every time they wanted to update a product.

The business model? One product at launch. Add courses later. A newsletter on Mailchimp. Stripe for payments. And a back-office setup that wouldn’t turn into a circus of plugins.

Also, did we mention they had a firm budget? We’re talking under €3.500 for the whole thing — illustrations included.

Solution: keep it lean, custom, and very them

We took the client’s content and turned it into something structured, clean, and fun to scroll through. A full custom WordPress design and development project, built with WooCommerce and sprinkled with custom illustrations — no page builders, no plugin soup, no nonsense.

1. Structure first — before the drawing started

Even with their draft wireframes, the flow needed refinement. We mapped out:

• Homepage: clear intro, what they offer, social proof, one CTA
• Offerings overview: light grid with descriptions, future-proofed for new items
• Product detail: full WooCommerce integration, but stripped of fluff
• Checkout: no distractions, clear logic, mobile-first
• Courses page: placeholder structure, designed to be activated later
• Newsletter sign-up: Mailchimp-ready
• Contact: one field, no CAPTCHA rage
• Account area: custom-styled login and dashboard views

The sitemap was small. But the care we put into it? Full scale.

2. Custom WordPress and WooCommerce theme — no builders allowed

We built everything from scratch. No Elementor, no bloated templates, no theme-of-the-month nonsense.

• Custom PHP theme with logical field groups
• Full WooCommerce integration
• Styled cart, checkout, login, account pages
• Optimized CSS and JS for performance
• Stripe payment gateway, tested and styled
• Built for future: courses could be added as a separate post type, ready to expand

Backend simplicity was the goal. The client didn’t need complexity. Just a setup they could log into, make edits, and walk away from without a dev degree.

3. Illustration-driven brand experience

Now here’s where things got really fun. WiseGuysTech didn’t want photography or stock imagery. They wanted custom illustrations — one for each main page.

So we sketched and designed a series of visuals in their style:

• A main hero illustration for the homepage
• A product image with just enough visual detail to explain the thing
• Stylized metaphors on the About and Courses pages
• A fun little 404 graphic that people might actually smile at

Each illustration was done in vector and exported in SVG with PNG fallback — responsive, scalable, and light on load.

We also created a simple icon set for feature highlights, newsletter, login state, and product attributes.

What we delivered

This wasn’t just about hitting the brief. It was about building something that felt natural for the brand — and didn’t turn into a maintenance nightmare.

Design & dev highlights:

• Custom WordPress theme
• WooCommerce for product flow
• Stripe payments
• Fully responsive layouts
• Custom SVG illustrations
• Mailchimp newsletter integration
• Clean account/login pages
• Hosting + SSL setup
• 100% editable backend (no shortcodes or builder traps)

Tech stack we used

• CMS: WordPress
• eCommerce: WooCommerce
• Frontend: Custom HTML/CSS/JS
• Backend: Custom PHP theme
• Payments: Stripe
• Newsletter: Mailchimp
• Hosting: Shared Hosting (3GB RAM, SSD, free SSL, backups)
• Illustration tools: Adobe Illustrator + SVGO

The whole stack was built for speed, clarity, and ownership. No third-party license drama, no recurring surprises.

Timeline and scope

• Kickoff to delivery: ~5 weeks
• Design: 2 weeks
• Development: 3 weeks
• Illustration: spread across both phases
• Budget: €3.175 all in (design + development + illustrations + hosting config)

We stayed within scope, made space for a couple of late-stage content tweaks, and supported post-launch DNS and Mailchimp tasks without any drama.

Final result: a shop that works and a brand that sticks

The new WiseGuysTech site launched clean, functional, and full of character. Visitors got a clear sense of who they were buying from — and what they were getting.

The client could log in, adjust copy, add products, and send newsletters without calling us every time.

And even though the business eventually shut down (as startups do), the site was rock solid from start to finish. It did its job: made the product look great, handled payments without breaking, and left users smiling — or at least not rage-quitting at checkout.

Want a WordPress and WooCommerce site that doesn’t suck?

We don’t use builders. We don’t overcomplicate. And we definitely don’t force five plugins where one line of code will do.

If you’re ready for a custom WordPress setup that reflects your product, keeps things lean, and lets you grow without the headaches —

→ Book a quick 30-min video call — we’ll show you exactly what to fix.
No pressure. Just plain-language answers and a clear plan forward.