Responses by Courtney Rowson, partner/creative director, SDCO Partners

Background: The Kiawah River site was designed and developed to promote a new master planned community for those looking for a balance of active outdoor pursuits within a sea island landscape. Situated in South Carolina’s legendary Lowcountry with breathtaking marsh and river vistas, and populated with ancient maritime forests, the development encompasses over 2,000 pristine acres and commands over one and a half miles of Kiawah River frontage. The site enabled the client to visually showcase the natural beauty of the community and give a sense of place for those who are unfamiliar with the Lowcountry.

Highlights: Expansive images, wildlife drawings and an exploratory tone depict the natural setting of the community. The site encourages users to explore and discover the amenities and activities that make the project so unique.

Challenges: Because the community was not yet built, we were challenged to create a sense of place and depict a lifestyle that would encourage users to inquire about living in the community. Visually, we had to excite users without actually showing them what the end result might look like, which is why we leaned heavily on strong lifestyle driven photography and illustration as storytelling devices.

Navigational structure: Because this was the first of a two-phased site, the site needed to be scalable and easy to navigate. We used side navigation so that users can engage with content that is relevant to them at any point. We also included a dropdown inquiry form within the header to ensure the call to action was always present.