Here at Torx, we’re huge fans of the Star Wars universe; we’re also, unsurprisingly, huge fans of outstanding web development and design. With that in mind, we’d like to highlight the recent redesign of StarWars.com, the official online home of the entire Star Wars mythos and brand, and what makes it special.
The first job of any website is functional communication: that is, clear conveyance of information to the target audience. That’s a complex enough task for small to moderately-sized sites, but Star Wars (and all of its affiliated movies, events, games, and news) has an ENORMOUS amount of content to offer for both the casual fan and the hardcore enthusiast. The Disney Interactive team, let by Bobby Solomon (also an editor of the popular TheFoxIsBlack design blog), had their work cut out for them conveying a sprawling saga in a galaxy far, far away to desktops, phones and tablets in this galaxy. They delivered beautifully, not only keeping the audience in the loop on the latest news about Star Wars, such as a new trilogy of films to be released over the next eight years, but funneling hundreds of Star Wars Databank entries into a manageable, searchable, and readable format. Never again will fans have to search the entire internet for the home world of Admiral Akbar (Mon Cala) or the hilarious video clip of Darth Vader screaming “NOOOOOO!” from Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
All of that information is great, but if it’s not presented in a way that’s pleasing to the eye then a website will lose engagement with audience no matter how compelling the content. Luckily, StarWars.com was designed and developed with a keen eye for detail and extensive knowledge of the look and feel of the Star Wars universe. From the large masonry elements of the content boxes to small details like the animated crossed lightsabers of the mobile menu element or the logo “crawling” back when the user scrolls down the window much like the familiar opening “crawl” of the films, an enormous amount of care was taken to delight the user with every click and encourage them to explore and discover more.
At Torx Media, we take pride in communicating your message, clearly and in a beautiful way that will leave your audience wanting more. We might not be able to make the Kessel run in 12 parsecs, but we can help with your next project. Call us at 804-577-8679 or send us a message below.