Rocky Mountain Rollergirls

Having been a fan, I was brought on to redesign the Rocky Mountain Rollergirls website. The old site felt a bit funny, mainly because content was spread out over three root-level navigation elements (the top bar had photos, the left bar had events, the bottom bar had a link to a mailing list), and clicking on a story page gave you the welcoming header "Roller Derby Rulz!"

As such, the redesign of rockymountainrollergirls.com focuses on two things: unification of content into a cohesive and consistent navigation structure, and a more professional identity. The website was already set up using Mambo, which I had limited experience with before starting work, so most of the work focused in on the backend of the site and making it easier for the Rollergirls to update on their own. Among the major changes:

• Integrated photo gallery (datsogallery). The previous website was using a Coppermine installation which would show up in a frame when the user clicked on "Photos." The template was different, and again, I wanted to make it more cohesive. With this solution, everything relating to the photos could be accessed via the Mambo administrator panel.
• Integrated Guestbook (akobook). Similar to the photos, the guestbook had previously loaded off-site in a frame.
• Two-column layout. The left column is for content & copy (what you expect when you click on a link). The right column is a self-described "contextual navigation" element that will change depending on the section you are in. In the case of "The RMRG," it will display a list of all the Rollergirls which you can click on to access the respective profile, so as not to clutter the main navigation. There was a lot of content to integrate, and ultimately I felt this was the best solution.
• New look/CSS Layout. Playing off Jay Vollmar's logo, I wanted to make the website feel a lot more aggressive while remaining minimal and somewhat sophisticated. Ultimately, I went in a direction of contrasting 50s art-deco elements with modern grunge aesthetics. In addition, to keep with the times, the layout is now CSS-based rather than table-based, allowing for more freedom and unity throughout the site.