Our Approach
The Scoop runs on two very different screens. A website for residents finding local news, and a TV display looping in waiting rooms, coffee shops, and businesses around town. The old setup wasn’t working for either of them.
We mapped the full scope of the problem before touching a single design decision. Two audiences, two contexts, two experiences, each one needing it’s own solution. The Brand came first however as they had never really created one and then everything else was built outward from there.
The Brand
The Scoop goes out into the community everyday and uncovers stories - local events, hidden gems, and the people and moments that make Port Alberni what it is. That is where our creative direction began.
The treasure map theme grew from this idea, illustrated trails, hand drawn details, a warm and characterful visual language that feels like it belongs to this city. The backhoe (the scoop) was a non-negotiable for the team at The Scoop, and a nod to Port Alberni’s working identity. It’s found throughout the site as an easter egg and as a natural part of it’s brand.
Getting there wasn’t linear. The client knew what they didn’t want long before they could articulate what they did. That’s not unusual. This is where good design actually happens, in the space between instinct and language, finding the idea that makes a client say “yes” without needing to explain why.
Uncovering Port Alberni’s Hidden Gems
The Build
The technical architecture was built around the real constraint: the TV displays needed to run lean, stable and unattended for hours at a time. Early versions running through Amazon’s HTML5 Web App Tester were failing after extended use from memory issues, black screens, displays dropping out at locations around town. That wasn’t good enough.
The solution was two separate frontends. One for the public website, one purpose build for the TV screens, both drawing from the same Drupal backend. The TV frontend was stripped to the essentials, optimized to run without errors across a full day. The website frontend was built for the full experience: sponsor visibility, embedded video and mobile responsiveness.
We also built a custom Amazon Fire App to replace the Web App Tester entirely. Staff who previously had to navigate the cumbersome technical process to launch the daily display now just need to open an app. That moment, when the complexity disappeared, was the Ah-Ha! moment for the client.
Impact and Results
The Scoop now runs a platform that works across every device and screen in town. Running in [X] locations across Port Alberni, the brand has personality that matches the warmth and character of the stories they tell. Sponsors get prominent reliable visibility on a platform locals actually watch. And the team that runs it every day got a system that gets out of their way and lets them focus on the work.
