In the beginning of 2019, Red Shark Digital participated in the 3rd Annual Pirate Entrepreneurship Challenge, a challenge sponsored by East Carolina University’s School of Business and the Miller School of Entrepreneurship. The competition awarded students' creativity and allowed them to pursue their passions of starting their own business. As proud pirates ourselves, Red Shark Digital aimed to help foster this growth by providing a prize of digital marketing services, such as a new web design, to the winners.

Tailgate Classics

This year, the winner of the Pirate Entrepreneurship Challenge was Tailgate Classics. After becoming bored with mass-produced designs, Cameron Higley, founder of Tailgate Classics, fell in love with the loud designs of the 80s and 90s. He became intrigued with searching through thrift stores and his grandfather’s clothes to find unique designs. After quickly noticing his fraternity brothers were after the same things, Tailgate Classics was born.

Shopify E-Commerce Web Design

Cameron successfully built his brand through the power of social media, marketing his products and “New Drops” primarily through Instagram. He had created an online Shopify store using base templates but lacked a design that was custom and unique to his brand. After discussing the brand’s wants and needs, we decided to design and build a custom Shopify web design theme that would integrate easily with his existing products, along with being fully responsive to account for mobile orders. Tailgate Classics’ old design, seen below, featured large chunks of space with small CTAs. The menu and icons were hard to see, so the site lacked true flow and didn’t clearly emphasize where to send users.

Utilizing a full-width menu just below the landing image, users can easily choose the products they are looking for, along with a CTA in the center to direct users to their new products.

Design Elements

Tailgate Classics is a unique brand built on bright colors, bold patterns, and eclectic pieces. We aimed to create a unique design that highlighted and complimented the clothes they were selling. Utilizing eye-catching electric colors, we created powerful CTAs and whimsical banners that enhanced their overall brand.

Shopify Web Development

After creating a unique web design built for Shopify, we moved into the development of the design and making any additional needed UX adjustments. We decided to add a search bar to the header of the site to make finding products easier, along with a link to their account to allow users to review recent purchases on the site. We also made a variety of responsive mobile adjustments to ensure the design translated between devices.

Pirate Entrepreneurship 2020

After working with Tailgate Classics, we are extremely happy that we participated in this challenge. We enjoy pushing the boundaries of web design, along with supporting businesses in Greenville, NC and Eastern NC. We look forward to participating in 2020 and seeing the bright ideas the students of East Carolina University have to offer!