http://www.justbreatheyeg.com
About the project.
Just Breathe Edmonton was a non-profit initiative with the goal of raising awareness about domestic violence against women and families, and raising $100,000 in support of WIN House (Edmonton Women’s Shelters) through campaign partnerships with local businesses, as well as individual donations. The Just Breathe campaign took place on September 25, 2011. The event was called Just Breathe because campaign organizers believe that women’s shelters give the women and children who are victims of abuse the opportunity to find safety and take a few deep breaths.
As a campaign sponsor, I donated website hosting, domain registration and over 20 hours in website design & development services to Just Breathe pro bono. I am incredibly proud to have worked on this outstanding campaign, and humbled that I was asked to handle the website component of the project.
The Just Breathe campaign was founded by Dana Metcalfe, owner of MUD Hair & Body Studio, in the wake of the Fluid Hair “Look Good In All You Do” advertising scandal. Fluid Hair’s controversial ad campaign offended many Edmontonians with its glamourized depiction of domestic violence. When Fluid Hair owner Sarah Cameron publicly commented that her critics should put their money where their mouths are to actually do something about domestic violence instead of just complaining about her tasteless ad, Dana Metcalfe stepped up and did just that. Dana set out to prove that local businesses can and will take concrete action to support the victims of domestic violence, and Just Breathe was born.
Dana recruited Kathleen Smith (aka KikkiPlanet) as a co-organizer to handle the campaign’s social media presence and media relations. Donovan Creative, who had publicly spoken out against Fluid Hair’s “Look Good In All You Do” campaign on the company’s blog, provided the branding and PR for Just Breathe. Kathleen approached me to ask if I’d be interested in providing website design & development services for the event, which of course I was. Women’s issues are a passion for me, and I was more than happy to join the team.
As part of the Just Breathe team, I also appeared on CityTV’s Breakfast Television to promote the campaign.
Project scope.
Because so much of Just Breathe‘s success relied on online viral marketing tactics, it was imperative that Just Breathe‘s website communicate the campaign’s goal and message effectively, as well as present a credible and professional image for the campaign. I created the look and feel of the website based on the logo concept and branding provided by Donovan Creative, and also used much of the PR copy they provided to build the content.
Dana wanted the website for Just Breathe to have a blogging component so that we could post regular updates about new campaign partners and other news in the weeks leading up to the campaign on September 25, so I created the site using WordPress. This was a fairly simple implementation of WordPress, and I built a customized theme and layout from scratch.
This project certainly taught me about how quickly I can pull a custom designed WordPress site together. I started this project with a brand new installation of WordPress and turned out a completed website 12 hours later. That is my personal record so far for fastest design and development of a WordPress based website.
