Shed Fitness Branding and Web Rebrand

Shed Fitness trains youth and competitive athletes across Durham Region — real strength coaching, not treadmills-and-mirrors gym fluff. But their existing website didn't reflect that. It undersold the coaching credentials, blurred the line between "commercial gym" and "performance facility," and gave visiting parents and athletes no clear reason to trust the program or book an assessment.

The brief: rebuild the brand identity and the site from the ground up — positioning Shed as a serious, credentialed athletic development facility, not a generic gym.

Full ownership of design, build, and strategy — brand direction, copywriting, and the live site (built and shipped on Base44).

1. Repositioning through copy. Before touching visuals, I rewrote the messaging to lead with proof over promises: coach credentials up front, a clear distinction between "off-season strength," "in-season maintenance," and "1-on-1 coaching" instead of one vague "training" offer, and a hero line (Bigger. Faster. Stronger.) that's blunt enough to match the gym's actual coaching style.

2. A visual identity built on contrast. The old-school-grit-meets-modern-performance positioning drove every design decision: a near-black base with a single high-voltage yellow accent, heavy condensed type for headlines, and real gym photography instead of stock imagery — so the site reads as intense and credible rather than polished-and-generic.

A dedicated coaches section with real names, certifications, and specialties (parents vetting a coach for their kid want credentials, not a smiling stock photo)

A stats bar (1,200+ athletes trained, 12 years coaching, 20+ sports covered) placed right after the program breakdown, where visitors are deciding whether to keep reading

Testimonials from parents and athletes by name and sport, not anonymous quotes

A live Instagram feed tied to the 7,000-follower community, reinforcing that this is an active, real program

4. Conversion path. Every section ladders toward one action — "Book Free Assessment" — repeated in the nav, hero, programs section, and a final dedicated booking form with sport- and goal-specific fields, rather than a generic contact form.

A site that reads less like a gym landing page and more like a performance program's credentials — dark, bold, yellow-accented branding; clear program tiers; named coaches; and a straightforward path from "landed on the homepage" to "booked an assessment."

Live site: shed-grit-performance.base44.app