International Skydiving Museum & Hall of Fame

The International Skydiving Museum & Hall of Fame had little established by way of marketing assets at the outset of the project, giving the Beyond Marketing team the exciting opportunity to start almost from square one in terms of design. Specifically, our task was to:

• Create a new logo and brand identity
• Design an easy-to-navigate website
• Craft informative, engaging copy
• Optimize the site for Google Search

With Beyond Marketing team members having extensive experience in both skydiving and philanthropy, we began the project with the advantage of deep, first-hand knowledge. Certainly we had much to learn about the organization at the onset, but the learning curve was far less significant than if we had started with a deficit in these niche fields.

The new Museum logo is congruent with the evolution of the organization. The brand mark is polished and professional, reflecting a more mature entity.

The choice of gold conveys victory and sunshine. The use of navy blue, as well as the other blues used across the site, offers a subtle nod to the sport’s military origins. Taken together, the colors echo those frequently featured on athletic uniforms and throughout the sporting world, and play into a salutation used across the international skydiving community: Blue Skies!

The vertical lines are reminiscent of the Museum building design, mimic skydivers flying in formation, and suggest the shape of a medal or badge. These vertical lines are also featured across the site design.

With there being two distinct sides to the organization’s mission – the Museum and the Hall of Fame – we had a great deal of information to convey to overlapping audiences. We implemented a “mega menu” that includes lots of white space, compelling photos, and strategic calls to action. The result is seamless navigation that intuitively leads visitors through 200 individual webpages.

Long bulleted lists were made sortable and easy to manage; information spread across multiple pages was consolidated. Several pages that were “walls of text” on the Museum’s original site were made compelling with thoughtful design and top-notch photography. The Museum’s STAR Wall is a prime example. Previously an exhaustive list of names, now it showcases curated photos of those who have been honored. (In recognition of our work, our client made a donation as a tribute to the Beyond Marketing team!)

The introduction of on-page forms is a much more user-friendly option for those both submitting and receiving nomination forms.

The Museum was not built during the project period, but the Hall of Fame has been a tangible reality since 2010. There are already more than 100 inductees to the Hall of Fame. The copy is very deliberate in tone: informational and aspirational on the Museum side, inviting visitors to join in the journey; factual and instructional on the Hall of Fame side, inviting visitors to join in the celebration.

As a nonprofit organization, the site also features several pages dedicated to requests for monetary, in-kind, and volunteer support, as well as donor, ambassador and volunteer recognition. This language is warm and expressive, with an emphasis on gratitude.

The new Museum site is mobile-friendly, follows accessibility best practices, and loads quickly. Analytics from the original site helped to inform our SEO strategy, which included adding descriptive file names and relevant alt text to photos, and strategically incorporating numerous keywords across the copy. The site is now fully optimized for Google Search visibility from industry and casual users.