Ryder Cup Launch

Well that happened sooner than I expected -- the official site for the The 2004 Ryder Cup has been launched, which if you didn't read the post immediately before this one, I designed and developed. This is very much a *soft* launch, with lots more information and features to come, but there was an urgency to get the basic event information up as soon as possible.

Both sites have nearly identical content, but that will quickly change once we get closer to the event. Technically, everything is CSS (of course) and it validates as XHTML Transitional (not about to try Strict with advertisements and what-not). The navigation uses the Son of Suckerfish Dropdowns method, which will save tons of file size / bandwidth for a high-traffic site like this.

As for the design, the tone is regal and patriotic, but without going overboard on color. The typography, which mixes Adobe Perpetua (serif) and Frutiger Condensed (sans-serif), is paired to convey tradition, and a classic, rich feel. And then of course there is the copious amount of white-space, which lends itself to both the overall concept and screen legibility.

At any rate, the site went live a little sooner than I would have liked, but that's how it goes. This site will see a lot of updates over the next few weeks, and by the time the tournament starts up they'll be in full gear.