What needed to change?
ARBA wasn't starting from scratch. It already had an established publishing operation, a growing catalogue and books reaching readers across East Africa. The problem was creating a digital experience that could properly represent everything happening behind the brand.
A reader needs to discover a book. An author needs to understand that ARBA works with publishers and authors. A retailer or distribution partner needs confidence in the company behind the catalogue. The website therefore had to work as more than an online brochure — it needed to bring the publisher, its books and its wider publishing activity together in one place.
The challenge was to turn a catalogue and an established publishing identity into a digital experience that felt organised, credible and easy to explore.
What we implemented.
I approached the website as a publishing platform rather than a collection of company pages.
The experience was structured around the things that matter most to ARBA's audience: the books, the publisher behind them and the opportunity to engage with the company. Publications were given a prominent role in the experience, while company information, distribution and contact pathways were organised around them.
I designed and developed the website end-to-end, creating the visual direction, page layouts, content structure and WordPress implementation. The result was a catalogue-led experience that gives the books room to stand out while making the broader ARBA story easier to understand.
What changed.
The finished site gives ARBA a digital front door for several parts of its business at once. Readers can discover featured publications and explore the wider catalogue; prospective authors have a clear route into the company; and the publisher has a stronger space for communicating its identity, reach and distribution network.
Instead of treating the website as a static company profile, the project created a structure that can continue to grow with the catalogue. New publications can become part of the same discovery experience without having to rethink the entire site.
The result is a digital presence that reflects ARBA as a working publisher, not simply a company that happens to sell books.
Published Titles