When website users are hungry families in need, a helpful, welcoming website experience has never been more important.
The Project
Gatorworks has had the privilege of working with the Baton Rouge Food Bank for over ten years. Our team has designed and developed the brfoodbank.org not once, not twice, but now four times. The passion, creativity, and effort we have dedicated throughout the years to this important local institution are unparalleled, and we couldn’t be more proud to help them in their efforts to serve the community of Greater Baton Rouge.
Serving Those Who Serve Us
First, we identified our target audience, which consisted of four distinct groups: volunteers at a younger demographic (Gen Z), individuals and families in need of food, agency partners and corporate donors, and general donors wanting to donate food and/or funds.
Next, we established that the dual goals of the website redesign were to provide an easy access point for those seeking aid and to facilitate donations and community involvement. To achieve this, we developed key functionalities on the website, splitting the audience into two categories: “Get Help” and “Give Help.” The site’s navigation and homepage were accordingly structured to facilitate these primary actions. We also envisioned embedding their donation platform prominently to drive aid.
Research
Since our work with them, a mobile app has been created that allows users to easily find food distribution sites. This was of critical importance to their target audience, as was the ability for their administrators to sync the food distribution events from their internal systems to the website. Gatorworks had a hand in helping their team evaluate third-party apps that other Food Banks use successfully in this regard. After choosing Vivery, our development team sat on several sales and implementation calls for this system so we’d be able to seamlessly integrate Vivery and its data into the website as its “Find Food” feature. Users were then able to easily search for nearby food banks or pantries and get essential information such as address, hours of operation, and contact details.
Apart from technical research, our design team reacquainted themselves with the Food Bank and its place of operations. We took a tour of the warehouse and we were thrilled to see the newly painted mural on their wall that depicts the lifecycle of a Food Bank. The mural was designed by local artist Ellen Ogden and our creative team was determined to use this stunning piece in the website to bring this aesthetic to digital life. We materialized the interactive “About Us – How Food Banking Works” section by effectively showcasing the food bank’s lifecycle from the mural. Scrolling effects were used to highlight the flow from one lifecycle stage to another.
Engaging With The Community
To further engage with the community, we created a “Share Your Stories” section where individuals could share their experiences with the food bank or how they have been impacted by its services. This helped to humanize the work of the food bank and promoted its efforts in a more personal way. These stories help to highlight the organization’s mission effectively while showing its real-world impact.
To bring personality and life into the site, our creative team developed unique food illustrations and animations as part of the food bank’s brand aesthetic. These were positioned at the top of each page, serving as a constant reminder of the organization’s purpose—and a fun callback to their lovely mural.
Project Summary
The redesign was celebrated by both teams and marked our fourth successful collaboration with the food bank. We believe our efforts have significantly strengthened the food bank’s digital presence and effectively bolstered its mission to aid the Greater Baton Rouge community. Our team is proud to have played a role in this success and remains grateful for the opportunity to contribute to such a meaningful cause.