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Innovative Use: 5 Amazing Websites on OpenWater’s Premium Theme

Published October 27, 2016 in Leadership

You know you need an awards website. You know it needs to be clean, memorable, functional, and useful. You know that you need to start somewhere. However, figuring out how to get started or feeling inspired isn’t always simple.

OpenWater’s premium theme makes getting started simpler and allows you to customize your website to suit your unique audience and needs. Moreover, it gives you full creative freedom to implement a design that supports your audience’s needs and streamlines processes in your organization.

But the question remains: Where to get started?

If you’re feeling frustrated or haven’t felt inspired by any other awards websites, read on to see 5 exceptional examples of how organizations have made the OpenWater premium theme their own and how you can as well.

1. Red Tricycle

Red Tricycle’s website is a prime example of how you can hire designers to elevate the premium theme to new levels.

The homepage features easy category navigation that gives entrants the information they need without having to hunt for it.

The program even took the OpenWater gallery feature and further customized it to suit their specific needs.

2. Specialty Food Association

The Specialty Food Association website is a prime example of how color, graphics, and premium theme functionality combine for a superior user experience.

The homepage is packed with information and features the timeline widget at the bottom for an easy way for entrants to keep track of what’s happening in the program from February through June.

This type of website is engaging without being overwhelming and uses the graphics to enhance the information rather than distract.

3. ICSC

ICSC is a photo-driven website using the slider as the hero image when you land on the website. In doing so, they direct traffic to the most relevant areas of the website their users need and want to know about.

What’s most unique about ICSC is the landing page concept. With 11 awards programs housed on one website, it was important to ensure each remained separate so entrants didn’t feel overwhelmed searching for relevant information.

As you can see in the photo above, each program has its own landing page. On these pages, ICSC implemented widgets, like the timeline widget we mentioned above for The Specialty Food Association, to stay organized and visually display information that may otherwise get lost in text.

4. U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Visually stunning, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce homepage demands attention and uses the entire front page to direct users to relevant areas of the website.

Like many of the other premium themes featured here, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce takes advantage of widgets, like the timeline, to stay organized and keep users engaged throughout the site.

5. U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation

If you’re thinking about a fully customized website, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Healthy10 Awards is the place to look to for inspiration.

If you visit the website, you’ll notice that the background images are videos along with several other unique features. Just one of these unique features is the award categories bar you can expand and close on the right side of the screen.

The site takes advantage of several other premium features that enhance a user’s on-site experience and make finding information simple. For example, the FAQ page includes our FAQ widget which allows you to expand and close different questions to reduce clutter on the page.

Do You Feel Inspired?

There are endless possibilities when you choose the OpenWater premium theme for your awards website. When you do, we’ll do all the setup work and all you’ll need to do is provide some background images, text for slides, sponsor logos, and other small details.

Are you ready to take your website to the next level? With OpenWater’s premium theme, doing so is simple and gives you an impressive product without the hassle.

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Kunal Johar

Kunal Johar is the OpenWater platform evangelist. He currently manages our development teams and enjoys diving into the fray. Find him in our community chat room.

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