Case study
Cedar Rapids Kayaking
A passion project: an interactive kayaking guide built to demonstrate craft, not ship a client site.
- Client
- spen studio
- Services
- Website development · UI/UX · Graphic Design · Web Design
01 / Challenge
Not every piece of work is a client brief. Cedar Rapids Kayaking was a place to play with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Bootstrap. The site was never meant to go live, but was built as if it might.
02 / Insight
The constraint was atmosphere: a river guide that felt as considered as the place itself, including an interactive map and editorial pacing.
Put-inRapidTake-outProcess reconstruction
The river is the nav
The guide had to feel like the valley: routes first, then safety and the towns along the water.
- Routes
- Safety
- Stops
03 / System
We sketched the experience, then coded an interactive map of routes with informative pop-ups, animation, and content for safety and local attractions. Everything was built responsive, then tested and tightened for speed.
Process reconstruction
Route map
Interactive pins, pop-ups, and editorial pages were treated as one river instead of a stack of articles.
- Map
- Pop-ups
- Safety copy
- Local stops
04 / Execution
We sketched the experience, then coded an interactive map of routes with informative pop-ups, animation, and content for safety and local attractions. Everything was built responsive, then tested and tightened for speed.
Process reconstruction
Guide interface wire
A reconstructed layout of the map: the water as structure, content attached to place.
05 / Outcome
A portfolio piece that shows what happens when craft is the only constraint: interaction, atmosphere, and a complete guide for a river that exists on the screen as clearly as it does in the valley.
