DISCOVERING
SOLANA BEACH
The city of Solana Beach’s digital presence was dated and difficult to follow. Their Chamber of Commerce had a vision to create an online environment that brought about genuine excitement and could show all the wonderful little city has to offer.
In order to tackle this challenge, I went for a walk. Paying attention to the little and big picture, there are a lot of intricacies that make Solana Beach unique. It’s slightly quieter than Encinitas, but more eclectic than Del Mar. It shares traits with its coastal compatriots, yet it’s still its own personality. What I started referring to to as refined sleepiness, Solana Beach offers a rare escape into a true Coastal California community. Having gained this insight, I then began to ideate and execute the digital encapsulation of what makes Solana Beach come to its own.
The execution of this site has definitely been my favorite project I’ve spearheaded. Choosing a color palette that embodied the colors of the beach, the sand, and the coastal fauna as well as creating graphics of the common Knick knacks you find around town, I wanted to create a platform that gave you the same feeling I experienced walking around the town.
Bringing some modern tech to reinvent the platform, we partnered with 3D map builder MapMe to generate a unique and comprehensive e experience for the visitor. I also wanted to use the embedded map as a “freemium” advertising opportunity for the business owners in Solana Beach. To help the visitor, every business would have a rudimentary listing on the map so the visitor would know all the city has to offer. If the business owner wanted to, they could opt to showcase the very best their business has to offer on the map and on the site as a featured business.
The result was exactly what they wanted. the new “visit solana beach” website offers an experience as pleasant as going for a walk around town and provides a tool for both the visitor and business owner. The site has easy to navigate pages with relevant photos and regularly updated event calendars. navigating the site is as easy as reading a map, which we also provided. following the launch of the site, multiple business owners have gone out of their way to compliment the chamber’s work in updating the site and average session duration increased by over 200%.