Design Case Study: A Commemorative Microsite & Campaign Strategy

When Galway-based band We Banjo 3 approached us with the desire to celebrate their 10-year anniversary, the goal wasn’t simply to mark the passing of time. It was to visually honor a decade of artistry, community, and evolution. This journey blends Irish tradition with Americana grit, acoustic virtuosity with emotional songwriting, and a shared brotherhood at the core of their sound.

This milestone moment deserved more than a single post or email. It called for an immersive digital experience, one that would celebrate the band's history, connect with fans, and become a shareable archive of the moments that mattered most.

Design Challenge

The central question was: How do you design a digital space that feels celebratory, reflective, and rooted in community, without overwhelming the user?

From a design and UX standpoint, our goals were to:

• Tell a decade-long story in a way that was browsable and intuitive

• Create a modular structure that allowed for organic sharing and SEO performance

• Balance visual richness with performance and accessibility

• Design with archival longevity in mind. This would live beyond a single moment in time

We began by sketching out three conceptual formats: an interactive map, a single-page scrolling timeline, and a chronological blog structure. Ultimately, we landed on a blog-style timeline, which gave us the most flexibility for rich media (videos, photos, press clippings), shareable URLs, and search engine indexing.

Content Strategy & Asset Architecture

Designing the microsite required careful asset organization and storytelling structure. Major milestones like album releases and awards were easy to gather, but the heartbeat of the story lived in personal memories, fan moments, behind-the-scenes footage, and lesser-documented gigs.

We worked closely with the band to fill in the gaps of the timeline. From there, we combed through file archives, YouTube links, and press articles to bring texture and visual rhythm to each entry. The content was intentionally arranged to feel personal and nonlinear, just like real memory.

We also designed for multi-platform integration: each timeline entry (built as its own blog post) could be directly shared on social, included in email newsletters, and referenced in digital press. This structure supported deeper fan engagement while driving traffic back to the band's main site, boosting visibility during the release of their new album Open The Road.

Visual Design Approach

The microsite design was rooted in the spirit of We Banjo 3: modern but grounded, vibrant yet timeless. We focused on:

• Typography that felt editorial and celebratory, with hierarchy to guide long-form reading

• A modular card-based layout for each timeline entry, optimized for mobile and designed for quick scanning or deep dives

• A color palette that reflected the band’s branding while introducing warmer, nostalgic tones for a commemorative feel

• Dynamic visual storytelling through embedded media, throwback imagery, and fan-submitted content

We also ensured accessibility and usability through contrast checks, legible text sizes, and intuitive navigation.

Celebrating the “WE” in We Banjo 3

At its heart, this project was about community. The fans who followed the band across continents. The small shows that turned into festivals. The shared moments between artists and audience.

We made a conscious design decision to weave this communal thread into the user experience. Inviting fans not just to observe, but to relive, remember, and re-share. In this way, the microsite became an archive of belonging, not just a band bio.

Outcomes

Platform Performance:

• All 10-year blog post URLs landed in the top 35 most visited pages on the band’s website (May–August)

• +40% email open rates, and +5% CTR for newsletters featuring 10-year content

• 5.61% average organic Instagram engagement rate (2022 industry avg: 4.7%)

• 0.78% average organic Facebook engagement rate (2022 industry avg: 0.064%)

This digital celebration was more than a campaign—it was a multi-platform tribute to the moments, memories, and people that built the first ten years of We Banjo 3.