Web Design Contest

Warriors Within

by warriorswithin

Contest received 105 entries and the contest holder has awarded a winner.

Winning entry by Ch@mp88

Company or website name

Warriors Within

Links to the website

wearewarriorswithin.com

Describe your company and organization and target audience

We are a community of military veterans who have transitioned, or are in the process of transitioning into civilian life. It also includes individuals who want to support these veterans. The value of our community is in bringing veterans and their supporters together to share their experiences about leaving the military as well as to teach others about the practices which have allowed them to live happy, healthy, and fulfilling lives. We embrace the “warrior identity” that we shared while serving in the military and look to bring those skills and values into our current lives - especially in the form of meditation, physical fitness, and personal leadership.

Target audience
- Primary: Military veterans (not specific to USA), male/female, 25-55 years old, college educated
- Secondary: Non-military veterans of same age/gender demographic, interested in leadership and personal development, higher-income

The design should have the following

FINAL UPDATED REQUIREMENTS FOR LAST 24 HOURS

**REQUIRED ELEMENTS IN FINAL DESIGN**
1) Please review the pdf mock up that I have uploaded. I have created it using a number of elements from several designers. Please incorporate all elements in the final design. Feel free to use your creativity to display the content effectively but do not neglect to add any of the listed components.

2) Current top designs have been rated 5 stars - please review for style and ideas, but do not copy, please be original,

3) In general, work to achieve a polished, layered, cohesive look throughout the entire site.

Please reach out with any final questions or clarifications before the final decision. Thanks!!

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1) Font: I like the font for title text in # 2041996. I like how it looks weathered, like stone. Please continue to experiment with fonts similar to this. Regarding normal paragraph text, I want something simple and readable, but yet something consistent with the look and feel of the overall site.

2) Color: The use of a blue accent (similar to #2041996) is appealing. The primary accent color should be something close to this blue. Feel free to experiment with a second accent color. Please provide a palate of the best colors (minimum of six) to be used in the site (text, lines, shapes, imagery, etc.).

3) Home Page Structure: Conceptually, I like the layout of entry #2041996 for a home page. I like how initially the focus is mainly on an image and some title text. Another design that does a good job of highlighting an image on the home screen is entry #2038388. I imagine scrolling down and seeing sections with brief bullets related to “Latest News”, “Vision”, and “Warrior Identity”. The imagery should flow and be cohesive while scrolling down to these other sections.

4) Sub Pages: Subpages should be similar to the home page but the purpose is to hold more detailed information about a given topic, with more text. Please incorporate designs for the following subpages:
A. Warrior Identity – This page will describe more about our audience and how we intend to engage with them. It will hold a framework and vision describing this engagement.
B. Podcast – This is one of the central focuses of the page and should be prominently focused on. There should also be a direct call-out to it on the home page.
C. Services – These are a list of offerings we can provide for individuals. Please create something for Coaching, Speaking, and Warrior Retreats.
D. Charity – Our organization is a registered non-profit. In this section of the site, we want to have the ability to direct users to a number of different charity organizations we support. It would be good to have a brief explanation of the charity, as well as a way to direct users to give. Also, please design a way for users to donate to our organization.
E. About Us – This subpage will provide a brief write-up about the background of the two podcasts hosts, as well as any other important people on the team. Use placeholders for portrait pictures to be included with the text.
F. Contact – People need to have a prominent way to contact us on every page.

5) Menus: I like the idea of using a non-traditional menu for the main home page. I like how the tile design used by entry #2040525 (5 square/rectangular images). I would like a more graphical menu where people could visit a subpage by clicking on one of the boxes. I would like to see this menu idea incorporated with the home page design seen in #2041996. For menus on subpages, I would like a more traditional menu, with options along a bar of some type. It doesn’t need to be on top – entries #2040345 and #2040318 uses a side menu. I don’t like this style for a homepage but it could be interesting for subpages. #2042576 also uses an interesting bottom menu which I like for subpages.

6) Contact Info: I like the simplicity in which this is presented by the following entries: #2041041 and #2042576.

7) Latest News: This is a section I want when you scroll down from the homepage (see #3 above). It will primarily have a link to the latest podcast episode. It could also be a blog post, special event, or other piece of information we want to call out. The section titled “Latest” in entry #2039611 is a good start in trying to achieve this.

THANK YOU!!
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The centerpiece of our content for this community is a video podcast that will be regularly released and hosted on YouTube. We also will offer an audio-only, more traditional podcast format for the content, as well as a blog and integration with social media discussion groups (FB, IG, etc.). We also want the site to highlight various services we can offer, including: individual, group, and corporate coaching; training events for individuals and/or companies, immersive and special retreat events, and public speaking to name a few.

We have already created a logo; the original file has been uploaded for your use. In addition, we have created a sandbox site using Wix to play with our ideas. This site can be found here: https://admin24398.wixsite.com/warriorswithin.
Other examples of sites we like are:
- https://echelonfront.com/;
- https://jockopodcast.com/;
- https://www.spartan.com/en.

To be clear, we are looking for a fresh look and do not wish to anchor rigidly to any examples we point to. Rather, we are using these examples for inspiration and ideas.

We want our website to represent and reflect the “warrior ethos” (leadership, strength, wisdom) without being too forward or overbearing. In general, we want the site to be clean and simple. Our approach to the warrior identity rests on three principles - mind (wisdom), body (strength), spirit (leadership) - we are interested in exploring the use of line, shape, color, and possible images to match our branding with the core thinking related to these principles. Other important principles we are interested in communicating are community and connectedness.

For additional consideration, we want to avoid the all-too common reference to overt imagery such as weapons or armor, which is normally associated with military-related companies. With that said, we hope to invoke the same warrior ethos that is prevalent with the branding of these types of companies. If we were to use more traditional warrior imagery, we would only consider it if it was unique, creative, and intelligent.

Objectives for site
- Attract interest from new members
- Focus on the value we are delivering as an organization
- Motivate community members with pride, excitement, wonder, and awe
- Meaningful, clever, and unique representation of community

Key Concepts (in no particular order of prioritization)
- Utilization of previously designed logo
- Introspection, mindfulness, purpose, vision
- Strength, power, boldness
- Wisdom, focus, discipline, integrity
- Community, tribe, family

Design requirements
- The primary use case for the site is to generate interest and direct users to a YouTube videocast site (and other social media/podcast sites: Instagram, FB, Soundcloud, Apple, etc.)
- Pages for different functions: Home, About, Contact, Charity, etc
- Scalable for use in both mobile and desktop platforms
- Minimalist look
- The color scheme should be compatible with the uploaded logo.

Imagery ideas (do not feel obligated to use items from this list – they are only seeds of ideas)
- A feeling of ancient times via a weathered or distressed look.
- The face of an individual (side profile or from behind looking into distance)
- Two or more individuals together (at least one female)
- Warrior holding items/tools/weapon/shield
- Triangle to represent mind, body, and spirit
- Circle to represent a community
- Fire/flame/torch to represent vision, passion, strength, transformation
- Blacksmith’s anvil to represent transformation
- Open book, compass, light prism

Colors to use in the design:
- The color scheme should be compatible with the uploaded logo.
- Please design a overarching color palette to be used in a standard manner across the site. See the attached example - please recognize that these colors are for example only and we encourage you to use your artistic expertise to choose interesting complementary colors.
- We want the site to be mainly composed of blacks and whites, while crisply highlighting a bright blue. See the color used in the uploaded logo. If necessary, we would potentially be open to adjusting this hue slightly in both the logo and as part of a larger site color scheme.
- Ideally 1 color (blue, see above), no more than 2 colors (in addition to black and/or white)

Briefly describe your contest

We seek creative, innovative ideas for website design of a veteran-oriented, non-profit service organization.