25 Awesome Examples of Outdoor Industry Web Design

In 2008, the outdoor industry posted a growth of 18% in online sales. For businesses in the industry, it is more important than ever to provide target customers with a great website and capitalize on the favorable market conditions.

Though many smaller operations won’t have the budget of the industry’s big-guns, attaining a successful and attractive website is well within reach, even for independent retailers and outfitters. Here are some tips and shining examples of outdoor industry websites that will hopefully help industry professionals with their website in ‘09.

Understand the Purpose of Your Website

The decision of which company or product to choose, like many other purchasing decisions, is made online. Those who hire outdoor industry service providers or go on excursions are often from areas outside of the guide’s operating market. Think about what you are asking someone to do when they visit your website: solicit information something that can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars based on your web presence alone.

Take Me Fishing

Take Me Fishing is a site to provide information on fish habitat, instructional techniques, and inspire people to share fishing with others. Bonus points for woodgrain.

SmartWool

The purpose of this site is to provide information on active outdoor apparel which will hopefully lead to customer purchases through the website or authorized dealer.

Tarpon Lodge and Resort

The Tarpon Lodge website provides rates and information for people looking for an outdoor vacation. The design is well executed and the logo placement is really good, however the music can put off some people (like me).

What You Are Really Selling?

The most important part of servicing a niche market is to truly understand what the target customer is after, so what does someone in the outdoor industry truly sell? The answer is probably more broad than you think. Adventure, relaxation, and challenge are things you’d experience while backpacking, climbing, skiing, fishing, or rafting, but they can all be tied together in one common theme: lifestyle.

Singita Game Reserves

Singita Game Reserves uses an upscale design to attract affluent customers. The packages they offer can cost thousands of dollars per day for their African wildlife retreats.

The Circumference

Life Experiences are the central message of this attractive travel and adventure site.

Bring the Outdoors Online

When it comes to the outdoor industry, there is the expectation of an active, healthy lifestyle that is the backbone of the industry itself.

One of the best ways to convey this is to bring the elements you’d encounter while out in the field to the site design. If you own an adventure lodge, make sure your site captures a rustic feeling of excitement. Have a mountain adventure company? Take the opportunity to incorporate elements from the mountain such as the colors, trail markers, or topographic maps.

Outdoor Italia

Outdoor Italia bases their whole design off of elements that you would see while in the field.

66 North

66 North features a topographic map of Iceland in their background.

Whistler Blackcomb

Snow on the ski report feature is meant to simulate a marker that you would find at the top of a run.

Micato Safaris

In any other situation, the animal print would conjure up images of 80’s hair metal, but it works well for this site. I like the typography on this site, but I wish they were using web standards.

Don’t Skimp on Photography

Outdoor sports and hobbies take place in the most beautiful settings our planet has to offer, so there is no excuse for having lackluster photography. One of my favorite things as a designer is when a client provides me with a bunch high-resolution of action and still shots to use in the site design, and having good photography can really add polish to a design.

The North Face

The North Face uses the natural environment for the backdrop of their website.

Notes from the Road

Notes from the Road features great photography from around the world. Too bad they aren’t using web standards for their site.

Illustrations Can Work Too

Hand drawn or illustrated web designs are very popular lately. These are great when you service multiple markets and don’t want to seem partial or if photography is not available.

Adventure Drop

Adventure Drop has a great illustration incorporating many types of outdoor sports.

Arizona Marinas—Pleasant Harbor

Sometimes illustration can provide a way to break a cliché. Pretty much every marina has a standard photo of a boat. Illustration is used to set this marina apart from the rest.

Natural Colors

Web design can be an extension of your business and it is all about creating an experience. Many land-based companies make effective use of earth-tone colors, while water-based companies make great use of blues and sunny accent colors.

Turneffe Resort

A nice balance of texture and color.

Ocean Kayaks

Effective use of water as a texture and brighter colors to accent the design.

Destination Leavenworth

Woodland chalets and real estate that does a nice job of giving a woodsy vibe.

Glacier Bay Lodge & Tours

Anyone who has been on a glacier knows how beautiful the striking blue of the “old ice’ can be and the Glacier Bay site plays off of that color palette.

Rough Up the Design

Just as you can use some of the elements of that occur in the wild, you can also use some of the textures. Nature is full of fantastic textures and patterns, so why not use them to make your site come to life?

Sinister Bikes

Dark colors really make the tire treads in the site background stand out while a nice texture is obtained in the content area of the design.

Professional Tasmanian Arborists

Not over the top on texture, just enough to give the design a little edge while maintaining it’s elegance.

Leatherman

Gear companies usually have excellent websites and this is no exception. I have had their Wave multi-tool in my tacklebox for almost 10 years and it is just as rugged as their website.

Dynastar

This design is a hybrid with a number of different things like the textured background, patterned header, rugged sidebar on the right and decorative flourishes on the left. All the elements work harmoniously and make this site stand out.

Keep It Clean

Sometimes the best way to stand out is to use whitespace and execute well. This is the opposite approach to the large photo background or rugged textures, but is also a very effective technique, especially when going for a broad, gender-neutral appeal.

andBEYOND

I love this site, especially the sumi-e style logo and sense of rhythm that is established by the layout.

Trails

This design requires a spot for advertising, e-commerce, promotions, membership, and a lot of information, so a clean design is absolutely necessary.

Butterfield & Robinson

Another minimalistic site that is very well executed. The thin lines that divide the page into segments give an added sense of elegance.

REI

A clean layout that is well-suited for the large amount of e-commerce and travel information that this site provides.

Conclusion

Too often, a website is looked at as an expense rather than an investment, and a good web design can elevate a business to the next level by capitalizing on market growth. Any time you go after a niche market, it is best to understand the goals and unique challenges that a business faces. This is true for both the outdoor industry professionals or the web designers who serve that industry.