Since starting work at Yahoo! Europe last Summer, I’ve managed to make some great friends. As if befriending some of the most experienced and talented “Web devs” in the world wasn’t enough, it wasn’t long before I ventured further a field and found some great friends in other departments. When I discovered some of the HR team were running the Reading Half Marathon for charity, it seemed like an ideal opportunity to offer my web design services to set up a quick website for promoting their cause.

One of the main charities the guys are running for is the Elimination of Leukemia Fund - a charity set up to raise awareness of the cancer and research ways of beating it. When it came to think of a name for the group (and website), it wasn’t long before we realised the acronym of the charity was ELF. Putting two and two together, the ELF Runners were born!

The website specification was pretty simple, close to a brochure website. It needed the basic information such as what it was all about, who was involved, details of the marathon and, most importantly, how to donate towards the charity.

With the project being a blank canvas, I had complete creative freedom over the branding and design (which can help sometimes, although as most designers know, can also be a complete nightmare). Knowing the guys as quite an outgoing crowd, rather than conform to the typically bland designs of charity websites, I decided to have a bit more fun creating a mascot for the group and incorporate it into a relatively vibrant and fun environment.

Putting pencil to paper, I mocked up a few different characters with “elfish” qualities. Picking out the key features as the pointy hat and shoes, I tried to keep the image nice and simple and opted for a silhouette style of the mascot, avoiding too much detail but, at the same time, getting enough detail into the character to recognise what it should actually be.

By creating a mascot for the project, it opened up so many options for the future, creating it in a variety of poses, as well as opening up avenues for merchandise such as t-shirts and posters.

With approval from the ELF Runners team, I went ahead with converting my sketches into vectors and creating a scene for the mascot to be running in. Again, sticking to the idea of creating a vibrant and fun feel to the website, I decided to implement some thick outlines and bright colours, in a very comical fashion.

The rest of the process was quite straight forward - nothing out of the ordinary when designing websites. After much slicing, dicing, coding and tweaking, the website was pretty much ready for launch.

With website completed, we also considered how best to promote the group. Jumping on the bandwagon of social networks, it made sense to create an ELF Runners Facebook group, not only to raise awareness among the group’s networks but also put a personal edge to the project. Facebook gives the guys an opportunity to update friends and members of the group with announcements, start discussions, as well as attaching links, images and videos from the big day.

The key aspect to the website was to aid towards donations. I was already aware of the service Just Giving so urged the guys to sign up straight away. We toyed with the idea of incorporating PayPal Donations as well but decided it would make sense to centralise the deposits into a system that also allowed for other’s to see progress. By using Just Giving too, we could make use of the freely available Flash-based Fundraising Widget by incorporating it into the ELF Runners website, as well as getting others to use the Just Giving Facebook application too.

Considering the life span of the project, it need a relatively quick turn around for launch as soon as possible. Due to the close proximity of the team I was working with, it certainly helped with meeting such a short deadline. It made life so much easier with the fact I could meet with the guys so regularly, showing them my progress and getting their input straight away rather than every few days.

It has been an absolute joy working with the ELF Runners and it makes the project seem so much more worthwhile knowing it was for such a needy cause. There comes a time in most web developer’s career when they need to do at least one pro-bono project for a charity and I am so glad I’ve done it for a charity that is investing so much time and effort into the research of leukaemia, a cancer that affects so many people and can actually be treated.

I know the ELF Runners are extremely passionate about the charity and are making fantastic progress in the training up to the big day. With just 19 days to go, it seems like a good time as any to make a donation. Even just a fiver can make such a difference…