Salomon Sports is a leader and global icon in the domain of mountain sports. Driven by a deep passion for skiing and design innovation, they have been inventing and reinventing the future of mountain sports since 1947.
In early 2008, Salomon engaged AREA 17 to help redesign their existing website and we were more than honored to work with this great French icon. The aim was to inject a new energy into the website design and make it match the company’s passion on the mountainside.
In the redesign, Salomon wanted to bring e-commerce more to the forefront of the website, yet not disrupt the lifestyle aspects of the experience. In the past, this tricky balance was solved by creating dedicated lifestyle website for each sport such as freeskiing, snowboarding, running and racing. Looking ahead, however, Salomon wanted to bring these websites together. Our challenge lied in the unification of all of these existing and somewhat disparate websites while still maintaining a unique experience for each area of focus.
The final designs used large photography to establish the environment. It was important that the website put the user in the right context — the mountains — so they were constantly reminded of their allure. Overlays were used to present products and users were given the option to “buy now” or “learn more” about the technical details.
The sport websites were maintained in order to give users the opportunity to go more in-depth into the lifestyle of the sport. However to maintain consistency throughout each of these website, a global navigation system was subtly introduced so users would not be distracted from the unique vertical design and experience.
It was important that the website put the user in the right context — the mountains — so they were constantly reminded of their allure
In 2008, AREA 17’s new designs were launched for Salomon apparel. These designs will be included in future releases across Salomon’s other verticals throughout 2009.