A Dojo’s Website

Project Details: Marital Art’s Dojo Website
Client: GEM Martial Arts
Completion Date: April 2020
Skills: Web Design, Strategy
Project Description
This project started out as a new website request from Renshi Gail at GEM Martial Arts, a local business here in Webster, NY. She had created her own site when her business first started, but readily admitted that didn’t really know what she was doing.
The dojo site contained all the details a parent would need to enroll their child, but the site was mainly pages of text.
Renshi Gail wanted a site that better reflected the growing dojo she loves and invests so much of her being into.
Some Branding
In our initial consultations Gail was adamant she didn’t want a lot of color on her site. Knowing a black and white site would look professional, but not necessarily enticing, integrating the belt colors as accents seemed the perfect way to draw attention to important links.
Ninja’s also seemed to be the perfect icons to use throughout the site.
Orignal Website Homepage

New Website Home Page

Research & Photography
Since GEM Martial Arts is local to me, I was able to talk with parents in the area and parents of kids enrolled at the dojo about what they like about the dojo and the instructors.
Research also included what they’d like to see on a website when deciding between dojos. This research also included what parents of enrolled students wanted to have available on the site as well as what they wished they had thought to inquire about when deciding where to enroll their kids.
It was very important to Renshi Gail to offer glimpses of real students, real learning, and the actual class space to visitors of the website. A parent and I spent time in the dojo with our cameras. The website is populated with photos of students and did not need stock photography.
“GEM Martial Arts is about learning, family, helping our community and becoming better people. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to experience the amazing, life-long benefits of training in the martial arts.”
Renshi Gail ~ GEM Martial arts website
A Portion of the About Page

A Portion of the Programs Page

Final Comments
GEM Martial Arts has high-caliber instructors, is a family centered dojo, and truly needed a website that reflected this. It was my pleasure to come alongside Renshi Gail and create a website that shows both of these qualities to visitors.
I’m thankful Renshi Gail and GEM Martial Arts are in our world instilling high values in our community. If you’d like to see the live site, head to Https://GemMartialArts.com.

I felt very timid, & overwhelmed by the project of a new website. After speaking with Tricia, I felt more at ease and relieved to let her work her magic. It was a relief for me to let her interpret my vision. I absolutely LOVE it! Tricia captured exactly what I was looking for!
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