Case study · Design & build · Ongoing care

Slim’s Dive Bar

Visit slimsdivebar.comSee the archived site

Slim’s gave us plenty to work with. Its sign, its walls, and decades of live music were all part of the story. On the old website, that story got lost in a crowded layout, an outdated menu, and a calendar on another domain. The rebuild started with the place itself and brought the things people come looking for back together.

Too much between you and a night out

Someone checking out Slim’s has a few likely questions. Who’s playing? What’s on the menu? Where is the bar? The old site made those answers harder to find than they needed to be.

The header crowded a red banner, a two-row menu, and the page title into the same space. Styling changed from page to page. On a phone, the layout struggled to fit it all in.

The more consequential problems were in the content. Parts of the menu were out of date, and important information was baked into images. A visitor couldn’t search that text, and changing a price meant replacing the graphic. Finding a show meant leaving for a calendar on a different domain.

The earlier Slim’s homepage. A red banner whose tagline wraps and is cut off, a crowded two-row menu with dotted separators, and the page title partly hidden behind the header.The archived Slim’s homepage at a 390-pixel phone viewport, with its red-and-white header, menu button and heavily styled introductory text.
BeforeThe archived homepage at old.slimsdivebar.com.

Drag the divider or use the slider. Select a screenshot to enlarge it.

Let the room do the talking

The bar supplied the visual direction. Its Slim’s sign sits over a photograph of the walls, giving the homepage something specific to say before you read a word.

The navigation gives the menu and Music & Events their own clear destinations. The menu is now text, so an edit can be an edit instead of a replacement graphic. Shows live on the main site, with room for flyers and recurring events. Booking and contact information have clear paths of their own.

The current Slim’s homepage. The Slim’s sign over a dim photograph of the bar’s walls, with a short menu of Home, Menu, Music & Events, About, and Contact.The current Slim’s homepage at a 390-pixel phone viewport, with its mobile navigation and Slim’s sign.
AfterThe current homepage at slimsdivebar.com.

Ready for the next show

A bar’s calendar keeps moving after the website launches. The rebuild brought that ongoing work into the site: adding a show, attaching its flyer, and keeping recurring nights on the calendar.

The menu and the music now share one address, and there’s an update routine with the owner and ongoing support behind it. That gives Slim’s a way to keep the site useful as the lineup and menu change.

Desktop captures from September 28, 2026. Mobile captures from October 4, 2026, at the same 390-pixel viewport.

How we got there

  1. Start with the bar.

    Use the sign, colors, and photographs of the room to set the direction.

  2. Untangle the menu.

    Replace outdated menu images with text that can be read and edited directly.

  3. Bring the shows home.

    Put Music & Events on the main site, with support for show flyers and recurring nights.

  4. Plan for the next update.

    Establish a routine with the owner for keeping the site current, backed by ongoing support.

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