Travel Website Designer — Visual Design + WordPress Implementation

# Travel Website Designer — Visual Design + WordPress Implementation **Budget: Up to $2,000 fixed price** I'm looking for an experienced web designer to establish the visual direction and initial WordPress implementation for a new travel site promoting tours on a specific attraction in Asia. I'm ideally looking for someone who is both a **strong visual designer and comfortable implementing their own designs in WordPress**. The website will use **Astra Pro + Spectra Pro**, which are already licensed and installed. The goal is not to custom-build everything from scratch. Astra/Spectra already provides many of the basic blocks and functionality. I want someone to create the **visual identity, key page designs and foundational implementation**, after which I plan to use the established blocks/styles to build many of the additional pages myself. ## What I'm Looking For The website needs to combine two qualities: ### Strong Visual Storytelling The destination itself should be the hero. Photography and video will play an important role. The website should make visitors want to experience the destination rather than immediately presenting them with a catalogue of products. ### Strong Commercial UX This is fundamentally a travel-commerce website, promoting tours to those attractions. Visitors ultimately need to explore experiences, understand their options and confidently move toward booking. The design therefore needs to be beautiful **without sacrificing usability, clarity or conversion**. ## Visual References Some websites that represent the balance I'm looking for: - **WildChina** — storytelling, photography and trust - **Xiora Travel** — polished, modern travel presentation - **Mr Iceland** — visually impactful while remaining a functional tourism business - **Arctic Exped** — cinematic travel presentation - **Enjoy Tour Tuscany** — video and destination storytelling - **Bavarian Castle Tour** — clear commercial presentation These are references, not templates. I don't want them copied. I'm looking for someone with the visual judgment to understand **why they work** and create an original direction. ## Initial Scope ### 1. Visual Direction Establish the core visual system, including: - Typography - Color palette - Spacing and layout principles - Photography/video treatment - Buttons and CTAs - Cards and commercial UI - Overall visual language ### 2. Homepage Design and implement a polished homepage that is primarily destination-led and visually immersive, gradually transitioning from storytelling into experiences and commerce. Desktop and mobile both matter. ### 3. One Commercial / Experience Page Design and implement one representative commercial page where visitors can understand an experience, evaluate the offering and move toward booking. This should demonstrate how the visual system transitions from emotional storytelling into a more conversion-focused environment. ### 4. Reusable WordPress System Use Astra/Spectra's existing functionality wherever appropriate rather than unnecessarily rebuilding standard components. Create/customize the key reusable sections needed to extend the website. The objective is that after the initial engagement, **I can build additional pages myself using the established styles, Spectra blocks and reusable patterns.** Some custom styling/CSS is completely fine where needed. ## What I Don't Want I'm not looking for: - Generic travel templates - OTA/marketplace-style design - Travel-blog aesthetics - Fashion/editorial websites - Experimental digital-art websites - Excessive animation - Design-award aesthetics at the expense of usability - AI-generated-looking luxury travel design - Someone simply customizing an Astra starter template The target is: **Visually impactful and premium, but fundamentally functional and commercially focused.** ## Ideal Designer I prefer an **independent designer or small studio**. Relevant experience with real projects involving travel, tour operators, destinations, outdoor/adventure tourism or experience-led hospitality is strongly preferred. I'm particularly interested in designers who are strong at: - Photography/video-led design - Destination storytelling - Typography and composition - Commercial UX - WordPress - Astra/Spectra or Gutenberg-style block building - Responsive implementation You do not need to be an advanced backend developer. The priority is **excellent visual design combined with enough WordPress/front-end ability to faithfully implement your own work.** ## Deliverables At the end of the project, I expect to have: - A fully implemented homepage - One fully implemented commercial/experience page - Desktop + mobile responsive design - Global typography/colors/styles - Header and footer - Reusable Astra/Spectra patterns or sections - Any necessary custom CSS - Photography/video treatment established - Basic motion/interaction treatment where appropriate - A site structure that I can continue extending myself ## When Applying Please send me only 2–3 live and relevant projects most relevant to this brief. I don't need a large generic portfolio. Please briefly answer: 1. What was your personal role on those projects? 2. Did you personally handle both design and implementation? 3. Please show at least one live travel/destination/hospitality website where you were responsible for the visual design. 4. Are you comfortable working with Astra Pro + Spectra Pro? 5. What would you propose delivering within the $2,000 budget? 6. What is your estimated timeline? **Budget: up to $2,000 fixed price.** There may be additional paid design work if the initial collaboration is successful. I'm looking for someone who understands the difference between **making a travel website beautiful and making a beautiful website that actually sells travel.**