Designify is a full-stack Django e-commerce web application for purchasing graphic design service packages. Users can create an account, submit a design brief, receive a server-side quote, and pay securely via Stripe (test mode). Staff can manage orders and upload deliverables for customers to download.
Live site: https://designify-1-ozf5.onrender.com
- View portfolio examples before purchasing
- Choose a package and submit a clear brief
- Pay securely and see payment feedback
- Access deliverables once uploaded
- Sell design service packages
- Collect structured briefs and requirements
- Manage orders and deliverables in a staff dashboard
- Build brand reach via newsletter and social presence
Designify operates as a B2C (Business-to-Consumer) service-based e-commerce platform.
The purpose of the site is to allow individual users and small business owners to purchase custom design services online.
The revenue model is based on single one-time payments for design packages such as branding, social media kits, promotional graphics, and bespoke creative deliverables.
Users browse available portfolio work and select a design package that best suits their needs. They then submit a custom brief and complete payment through Stripe.
The business creates value by:
- providing professional design services online
- streamlining the custom order process
- allowing direct communication of user requirements
- enabling digital delivery of completed design assets
The target market includes:
- small businesses
- influencers and creators
- independent musicians and artists
- startups
- personal branding clients
This model is primarily focused on digital service sales, rather than physical product sales.
- As a visitor, I can view the homepage and understand the service offering.
- As a visitor, I can browse a portfolio list and open portfolio details.
- As a visitor, I can register for an account.
- As a user, I can log in/out and see my login state reflected in navigation.
- As a user, I can create an order by selecting a package and submitting a brief.
- As a user, I can view my orders and open each order detail page.
- As a user, I can pay for an order via Stripe Checkout.
- As a user, I receive clear success/cancel feedback after payment.
- As staff, I can view all orders in an admin dashboard.
- As staff, I can upload deliverables linked to an order.
- As staff, I can remove a deliverable if needed.
- As staff, I can filter/search orders.
- As a visitor, I can sign up to a newsletter.
- Email notifications for payment and deliverables.
- Subscription model for ongoing design work.
- Homepage with CTA
- Portfolio list + detail pages
- Newsletter signup
- Registration + login
- Login/register restricted to anonymous users
- Staff-only admin order management pages
- Users can create and manage their orders
- Staff can manage orders and deliverables
- Stripe Checkout integration (test mode)
- Feedback pages/messages for successful and unsuccessful payments
The project includes multiple SEO-focused features to improve visibility and indexing:
- custom page titles
- custom meta descriptions
- robots.txt
- sitemap.xml
- bespoke 404 page
- internal linking through navigation and footer links
- use of rel attributes for external links
The purpose of Designify is to provide users with a clean and straightforward platform to purchase custom design services online.
The target audience includes:
- small business owners
- content creators
- independent artists
- professionals requiring branding or promotional design work
The user journey was designed to be simple:
- View portfolio work
- Select a package
- Submit design brief
- Pay securely
- Receive deliverables
The interface was planned with a strong focus on user journey and clarity.
Key goals included:
- easy portfolio browsing
- quick package selection
- clear checkout flow
- intuitive admin order management
Initial wireframes were created to plan page layout, user flow, and content hierarchy before development.
The project was developed using Agile methodology principles.
GitHub Issues were used to define user stories and acceptance criteria for each major feature.
A GitHub Project Board was used to organise development tasks into:
- Todo
- In Progress
- Done
This allowed features to be planned, prioritised, and tracked throughout development.
The application uses a relational database structure with clear model relationships.
Key models include:
DesignPackageDesignOrderPortfolioItemTestimonialNewsletterSubscriberDeliverable
Relationships:
- One user can create multiple design orders
- Each order belongs to one package
- Each order can have multiple deliverables
- HTML, CSS, Bootstrap 5
- Python, Django
- Stripe (test mode)
- Cloudinary (media storage)
- Whitenoise (static files)
- Render (deployment)
| Feature | Test Performed | Expected Result | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| User Registration | Created new account with valid details | User account created and redirected | Pass |
| Login | Logged in with valid credentials | User redirected to homepage/dashboard | Pass |
| Logout | Clicked logout button | User logged out and redirected | Pass |
| Create Order | Submitted design brief form | Order created in database | Pass |
| Edit Order | Updated existing draft order | Changes saved and reflected in frontend | Pass |
| Delete Order | Deleted draft order | Order removed from database | Pass |
| Stripe Payment | Proceeded to test checkout | Redirected to Stripe checkout page | Pass |
| Payment Success | Used successful Stripe test card | Payment marked successful | Pass |
| Payment Cancel | Cancelled Stripe checkout | User returned with feedback message | Pass |
| Deliverable Upload | Admin uploaded design file | Deliverable visible to user | Pass |
| Portfolio Page | Loaded portfolio items | Items displayed correctly | Pass |
| Newsletter Signup | Submitted email | Subscriber saved successfully | Pass |
| Responsive Design | Tested mobile + desktop | Layout adapts correctly | Pass |
- HTML pages tested through W3C validator
- CSS tested through W3C validator
- Python code checked for PEP8 compliance
- Forms tested for invalid inputs and error messaging
The application is deployed using Render.
- The project was pushed to GitHub.
- A new Render Web Service was created.
- The GitHub repository was linked to Render.
- Environment variables were configured:
- SECRET_KEY
- DEBUG
- ALLOWED_HOSTS
- STRIPE keys
- CLOUDINARY_URL
- Static files are served using WhiteNoise.
- Media files are stored using Cloudinary.
- The application was deployed successfully and tested on the live URL.
Sensitive information such as API keys and secret keys are stored securely using environment variables and are excluded from version control using .gitignore.
During deployment on Render's free tier, the SQLite database may reset on redeploy due to the ephemeral file system.
In a production environment, this would be resolved using PostgreSQL or a persistent disk.
Users can submit their email address via the newsletter form.
Screenshots of the social media mockups are included below.
- Designify Facebook Page
A Facebook Business Page mockup was created to demonstrate how Designify would be marketed on social media.
This approach was chosen instead of a live Facebook page to avoid issues with platform moderation and deletion of test pages.
- Django documentation
- Bootstrap documentation
- Stripe documentation
- Cloudinary Documentation