Designer: Mandy Barrett
It may be challenging to design a website
for a business known to recharge its customers,
but it’s possible to generate excitement
on a site without clutter and confusion.
Janice DiMaggio, creative director of JDS
Worldwide, turned to DG for help in redesigning
the website for client Club Getaway, which offers
all-inclusive weekend adventures. “The current
design is old,” she says. “Club Getaway is totally
unique and the site needs to convey that. It doesn’t
generate a buzz.”
Part of the reason the site doesn’t represent the
adventurous nature of the company is that it’s hard
to navigate, and its use of colors is confusing. “There
were a couple of design problems that struck me
right away,” notes designer Mandy Barrett. “I don’t
like the way they use menus—it’s difficult to tell
what connects with what. Secondly, there’s no cohesive
color palette. The web allows for full color, but
that doesn’t mean your website should use them all.”
Barrett first set out to make the navigation
easier. By including a pull-out menu that runs to the
side rather than the top, she was able to line up a secondary
menu with the user’s primary selection. This
will help visitors recognize where they are. The “In
the News” section of Club Getaway’s site was messy,
so instead of listing every notable quote, Barrett created
a menu in which the user can select the name
of a publication, and its quote pops up to the right.
“This should significantly decrease clutter on the
page,” says the designer. She used the same technique
for the photos page.
“Photos can convey full color, while a color palette
evokes a feeling,” notes Barrett. She chose lime
green as the site’s main color because it evokes the
hip feeling of the company, whose target audience is
age 25 to 40. Secondary colors include a complementary
mint shade, blue (representing water sports), and
brown (representing land activities).
Barrett selected fun fonts with clean lines—
RilloHeavy for headlines and Volkswagen Light for
copy and menus. She also updated Club Getaway’s
logo. “It was so childish before,” she notes. “They
needed something clean and simple.”
