This Arlington, MA based cycling tour company specializes in transformative, immersive experiences steeped in Italian cycling traditions. Celebrating 30 years in business, the company needed a new website and marketing strategy that not only spoke to their loyal returning travelers, but also attracted younger travelers unfamiliar with the brand looking to take an active luxury vacation. Catering to older customers (55+), the new website strikes the balance between the innovative and the familiar.
Role: UX & Visual Design | Launch: February 2019
VISIT THE SITE
Drawing inspiration from their print brochures from the early 1990s, the new site is a blend of the traditional and the modern. To infuse a sense of the handcrafted, old-world quality so prevalent throughout rural Italy, I updated and repurposed the old watercolor brochure illustrations on the site for a travel journal feel. The UI color palette of deep wine reds, demure olive greens, and golden yellows draws inspiration from the Tuscan architecture and landscape. Leading with a strong serif typeface for all headlines—and the occasional script—not only helps convey a sense of culture and history but also differentiates this tour company from the countless others that opt to use a sans serif.
To highlight the company’s rich Italian heritage, I incorporated iconic patterns and flourishes found in Italian ceramic tiles. The custom iconography found on key templates play off the shapes of Venetian windows to add unique branded elements throughout the digital experience.
Whether prospective travelers choose to search by destination, ability level, activity type, or date, the faceted navigation structure is both a tool to get users who know exactly what they are looking for where they’d like to go while providing new users an overview of options.
CREDITS — Work done at 829 Studios. Design effort supported by the incredible Justin Vinalon, aka J. Vinny.