Website design for an experienced judge and arbitrator

Sole practitioner websites often include a lot of information to establish expertise. But sometimes, trying to prove who you are actually reduces the respect you get.

This project is for Mr. Penny, is a former judge who spent 16 years at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. After retiring from the bench, he decided to offer arbitration services for matters that interest him.

An arbitrator's role is to bring fairness and impartiality. Therefore, his website cannot read as self-promoted. Every message needs to be communicated with brevity.

Though the short content made the project seems unexciting as a design assignment, I found the real challenge was to design around the nature of his work instead of following conventions. Here’s what I ended up designing:

• A visual language of balance. The three-line navigation is a conceptual representation of arbitration: three parties coming together in a structured process. The main photograph reinforces the same idea, showing the arbitrator in a setting that suggests attentive listening and balanced consideration.

• Short pages. Websites tend to require scrolling, but scrolling can suggest endless discovery, which isn’t true to the nature of his work. Short pages organized under clearly defined labels communicate clarity and definitiveness, which is more similar to how a binding decision is reached after sufficient evidence.

• Calm page transition: Given the emotional state his website visitors might be in, I didn’t want to use the standard page transition which feel sharp and snappy. Instead, I used custom-coded tabs that gives more control over page transition, and was able to create a more calming experience.

In my six years building websites, this was the first time a client asked me to design a website with dignity.

I had no visual reference for what dignity looks like in website. Through the process, I got to contemplate what the word means. What sticks with me is the recognition that true worth is built through steady effort and passing seasons. It’s not what’s visible at the end — it’s the work that comes before it.