Proud to Present: Boardwalk Ice On Whyte

We recently launched a new website for a non-profit organization known as Ice On Whyte Society. Their premier event, ‘Boardwalk Ice On Whyte’ is recognized as a unique Edmonton winter festival which hosts one of only three international ice carving competitions in Canada. A recognized leader in winter outdoor programs, its ongoing mission is to advance the public’s appreciation of the arts, educate the public on ice carving and be a premier festival producer on the world stage highlighting Old Strathcona as a tourism destination.

Opportunity

We were given the opportunity to redesign the existing Boardwalk Ice On Whyte website. Some of the key areas of focus for this project included:

Redesigning the website by integrating the recently developed Boardwalk Ice On Whyte logo and brand colours while highlighting title sponsor and partners
Showcasing the diversity of the events available at the festival
Making the website easier to navigate for audiences to find information quickly
Leveraging imagery from past Ice On Whyte festivals to capture the true essence of the event
Highlighting the main festival activities
Positioning the festival as part of an experiential focus on Old Strathcona as a tourism destination

Approach

Using our experience and data knowledge from managing Boardwalk Ice On Whyte over the years, we analyzed information on previous festivals to create a website that would be a true reflection of the festival.

We came up with ‘lazy-loading’ concept for images to prioritise site speed as part of the user experience given the site uses a lot of images to paint a picture of what it is.

We wanted to make sure the Calls to Action stood out and aligned with the client’s goals while being strategically placed across the website. Colour, sizing, page and placement were all considered in achieving this.

The details about the festival were tailored towards specific audiences so we broke down the experiences by activity and added a prominently featured calendar of events to make it easy to filter through to the area of interest.

We added content bands on all pages with details on activities that may interest attendees but are not directly linked to the festival such as places for Dining, Accommodation and Entertainment.