RETURN TO PORTFOLIO

The Pennsic War is an annual, 2-week long camping event of the Society for Creative Anachronism, and is attended by over 10,000 participants each year.

I was the webmaster for this event from 2003 through 2018 (with one year off in 2013). Each year I worked with the volunteer staff members to organize the large volumes of information from the various departments. I also created pages that related the history of the event, a photo section, a FAQ for newcomers, and added articles on camping advice.

Over the years I updated the design of the website several times. In 2012, I added a panoramic photo taken at the event by one of the attendees as a header, and used Google fonts to give the headers a more medieval feel. The navigation bar with drop-down menus organized all the website contents into 6 categories. Visitors could easily find links to register for activities, check schedules, prepare for the event, and look up information. I also illustrated most of the pages with Medieval illustrations from the Manessa Codex that reflected each page's subject matter.

In 2014, I reworked the site with "responsive" code to tailor the information for visitors viewing the site on mobile phones and tablets. The header image, text, and search bar were adjusted to fit the user's device, and the menu became a single button (which linked to an abbreviated menu at the bottom of each page).

The responsive code was all handled through style sheets, so there did not need to be a separate "mobile" version of every page.


Full size websiteMedium width
(e.g.tablet)
Minimal design
(phone)