Modernizing the Digital Experience for the Downside Risk
For years, the Downside Risk was a beloved neighborhood restaurant and bar in Scottsdale, Arizona, earning a loyal following throughout the 1980s and 1990s for its welcoming atmosphere, memorable food, and strong sense of community. After being closed for nearly a decade, the restaurant was resurrected under new ownership with a vision to reestablish it as a local favorite while introducing it to a new generation of customers.
As the business reopened during the rapid rise of social media and email marketing, there was no established digital presence to support the brand. Without a website or central online destination, the restaurant lacked a way to tell its story, promote menus and weekly specials, announce events, or serve as the foundation for emerging digital marketing channels.
Designed and developed by Breakaway Creative, my independent creative agency, this project encompassed strategy, user experience, visual design, front-end development, and Joomla CMS implementation. Working directly with owner Randy Frederick, I led the creation of Downside Risk's first modern website—developing a visually engaging digital experience that captured the personality of the restaurant while providing an intuitive user experience and a flexible content management platform.
The completed website became the cornerstone of the restaurant's digital marketing strategy, serving as the central hub for menus, promotions, events, and customer engagement while supporting the business's reintroduction to the Scottsdale community.
The Challenge
As the Downside Risk prepared to reintroduce itself to the Scottsdale community, the restaurant faced a significant digital gap. While it had a loyal local following and a distinctive personality, there was no digital presence to support the brand or connect with customers online. With social media and email marketing rapidly becoming essential marketing channels, the business needed a website that could serve as the foundation of its digital strategy.
The new website needed to:
Capture the personality and atmosphere of the restaurant.
Increase awareness of weekly specials, promotions, and live events.
Make menus easy to browse and navigate.
Showcase the food, environment, and overall dining experience through rich photography.
Empower staff to easily update content without technical expertise.
Establish a centralized digital presence that encouraged customer engagement and repeat visits.
My Role
As Founder and Creative Director of Breakaway Creative, I led the project from initial strategy through final implementation, partnering directly with the restaurant owner to transform the vision into a cohesive digital experience.
My responsibilities included:
Creative strategy and digital vision
Information architecture
UX planning and user journeys
Wireframing and interface planning
Visual design and art direction
Copywriting and content organization
Joomla CMS implementation
Front-end development
Client collaboration and project leadership
Elements of the Design Strategy
Rather than creating a website that simply displayed menus and contact information, the objective was to build a digital experience that reflected the personality and energy of Downside Risk.
Every design decision was guided by one principle:
The website should feel like an extension of the restaurant itself—welcoming, authentic, and memorable.
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The website celebrated the restaurant's personality through engaging content, photography, and messaging that reflected the Downside Risk experience.
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Large-format imagery immediately established the atmosphere of the restaurant and created an emotional connection before visitors ever walked through the front door.
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Strong typography reinforced the restaurant's personality while improving readability and creating a confident visual identity.
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Homepage content was intentionally designed to support rotating specials, live entertainment, seasonal promotions, and featured announcements without requiring major design changes.
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Menus, specials, events, and promotions were highlighted with clear visual hierarchy that encouraged exploration and customer engagement.
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Content was organized around what guests cared about most, making it easy to browse menus, discover upcoming events, and quickly locate essential information.
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While the original website was designed during the early evolution of responsive web design, the experience was planned with adaptability in mind. Today, I would extend that philosophy by designing a fully responsive experience that delivers a seamless journey across desktop, tablet, and mobile devices.
Together, these principles created a website that felt energetic, authentic, and uniquely representative of the Downside Risk brand.
UX Improvements
Simplified Navigation
The information architecture was reorganized around customer needs rather than internal business structure. Menus, events, specials, directions, and contact information became easy to locate through intuitive navigation that reduced friction and improved usability.
Stronger Visual Hierarchy
Photography became the primary storytelling element while typography, spacing, and color naturally guided visitors toward featured promotions and important calls to action.
Flexible Content Management
The Joomla CMS empowered restaurant staff to easily update the website without requiring developer assistance, ensuring content remained fresh and relevant for: daily specials, events, promotions, menu change, and news and announcements.
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Creative Highlights
Every page was custom designed specifically for Downside Risk rather than relying on a generic restaurant template.
Highlights included:
Full-width hero imagery
Editorial-inspired page layouts
Rich visual storytelling
Custom iconography
Consistent visual language
Strong brand personality throughout the experience
Flexible promotional components
Seamless integration between content and photography
Impact
Although formal analytics were not captured for this project, the redesign successfully established the restaurant's first comprehensive digital presence and became the foundation for its online marketing efforts.
The project successfully:
Created Downside Risk's first modern digital experience.
Established the website as the hub for social media and email marketing.
Improved discoverability of menus, events, and promotions.
Simplified ongoing website management through Joomla CMS.
Strengthened the restaurant's visual identity online.
Delivered a digital experience that authentically reflected the atmosphere and personality of the restaurant.
Created a scalable foundation that could evolve alongside the business.
What I'd Do Today
While this project was originally completed during my time leading Breakaway Creative, the foundational principles behind the work—user-centered design, visual storytelling, and intuitive content management—continue to influence how I approach digital experiences today.
With more than 25 years of experience leading creative and UX teams, I would further enhance the project by incorporating modern best practices that improve accessibility, performance, personalization, and measurable business outcomes
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Design and develop the experience to meet WCAG 2.2 AA accessibility standards, creating a more inclusive experience while supporting long-term compliance.
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Expand the website beyond an informational destination by integrating online reservations, digital menus, online ordering, event registration, loyalty programs, customer reviews, and social proof to create a more connected customer journey.
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Improve page speed, Core Web Vitals, technical SEO, structured data, and image optimization to increase discoverability while delivering a faster, more engaging user experience.
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Implement analytics dashboards, event tracking, heatmaps, and A/B testing to better understand customer behavior and continuously optimize the experience based on real user insights.
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Leverage AI to personalize promotions, recommend upcoming events, highlight seasonal specials, and deliver more relevant experiences based on visitor interests and behavior.tion
Evolution as a Creative Leader
This project represents one of the earliest examples of my passion for combining brand storytelling with user experience design. Through founding and leading Breakaway Creative, I learned the value of partnering closely with clients, solving business challenges through design, and building digital experiences that connect with people.
Since then, I've expanded those same principles across enterprise organizations including Best Western Hotels & Resorts and Alliant Credit Union, where I built UX teams, established governance frameworks, implemented accessibility standards, introduced experimentation programs, and led data-informed digital transformation initiatives.
Today, I continue to believe that the best digital experiences do more than look beautiful—they solve business problems, remove friction, strengthen brands, and create meaningful connections between organizations and the people they serve.