Providing outdoor education and innovation through a powerful WordPress experience.
C
alleva is an outdoor educational nonprofit organization that has been a staple in the DC area for adventurers
of all ages for 24 years. Calleva operates year-round programs with over 100 partner organizations and schools
through mobile programming, offering summer camps, wilderness educational experiences, environmental education,
and small-scale sustainable farming.
Project Mission
Calleva’s robust
website required a completely new organizational structure and updated design to create a more intuitive user
experience.
What We Did
WDG partnered with
Calleva to reorganize the site’s information architecture and employ flexible layouts for easy administrative
updates. We also targeted key audiences through strategic branding and a clean, organic design.
Roadmapping a Comprehensive Site Map
WDG partnered with Calleva to redesign their outdated site. WDG strategists
began with a quick drive search. The large amount of information on Calleva’s previous site presented a
particular organizational challenge. Our strategists helped organize the information architecture (IA) into a
functional site map with flexible structure that easily allowed for site updates and additions. A collapsible
left navigation menu incorporated nesting pages with strategically grouped sections of related events, camp
opportunities, and age groups. This intuitive page structure created a seamless user experience that
blended functionality with aesthetics.
Integrating a Stylistic Refresh
Calleva approached WDG designers with a request
for a stylistic refresh on their existing website. The outdated original design targeted a younger audience
with textured backgrounds and darker tones; to help shift their messaging towards new audiences, WDG designers
created a cleaner, brighter style that blended earth tones with crisp, attractive assets.
Camp, River, and Farm
Calleva’s site is centered around three major
program sections: Camp, River, and Farm. For design to showcase each section individually, small, elegant
details were incorporated throughout the site to create visual consistency. Delicate iconography for each
section was intermixed with a natural color palette, including field-green navigation menus, sky-blue
brushstroke buttons, and more. Aesthetically, the finished design portrays a lively tone that balances organic
elements with clean grids and fine lines.
Navigating an Incredible Adventure
Calleva offers a plethora of customizable programs for participants of all
ages. Since Calleva needed to be able to quickly create new pages to accommodate these programs, WDG harnessed
the power of WordPress flexible layouts. This equipped admins with a powerful and user-friendly CMS to
facilitate updates and modifications easily. Related programs were grouped through strategically organized page
structures. Additionally, WDG leveraged related taxonomies to display programs in related fashions. A modular
design helped make the overall site mobile-responsive, with featured blogs, easily navigable forms, and major
event promotions. Together, these elements showcase expert voices to help appeal to specific target audiences.
Beautiful Imagery
Calleva provided a strong photography collection
for WDG to choose appropriate and lively images from. The images were carefully selected to not only feature
the beautiful camp landscape, but also the personality and expertise of the counselors. Highlighted
testimonials, prominently featured portraits, and personalized messages from counselors created an approachable
tone to attract campers and businesses alike.
