Western United home page options
Twelve front page directions for westernucg.com, from the 29 October 2026 conversation. All use WUCG's own photos and figures from the current site, and every one has been checked at phone width with a working Menu button. Copy is draft and needs Josiah's eye, scopes of work especially.
What Josiah said
- Header: the menu and round logo take about a third of the screen. A round logo doesn't fit a long, narrow space.
- Gallery: the wall of photos looks like a teenager's Facebook. Featured projects used to be there and are gone.
- Movement: not a fan of things moving around the page as you scroll.
- Team page: probably not. It goes stale fast.
- Projects: competitors followed WUCG into pump stations and airports, so show work without giving away too much.
- Purpose: the site matters more now for hiring, and to get the fab shop going.
- Liked: Rotschy, simple and peaceful, one good photo then the scopes. RPD's look. Tapani's divisions, though WUCG can't copy them.
- Photos: no mountain backdrops and few pro shots. A photographer or drone pro would help whichever option wins.
Where the look comes from
The local sites Josiah looked at (rpdevelopment.com, tapani.com,
rotschyinc.com, rognlins.com, kerrcontractors.com) set the bar, but no
option follows one of them. Several build on WUCG's own logo instead:
the flange ring and its eight bolt holes, and the road with a center
stripe running into the W. Earlier drafts that sat too close to the
local sites are in superseded/.
Ideas taken from national contractors
| Idea | Seen on | Used in |
|---|---|---|
| A label on the hero photo naming the job | Barnard puts the project name and place in a card on the hero, so the photo proves something. | 01 |
| Two doors: bid or join | Sundt ends with "Let's talk" and two buttons, one for project inquiries, one for careers. | 01, 02, 05, 08 |
| A career ladder | Emery Sapp's "Own your journey" career paths; Kiewit sorts careers by who you are. | 01, 04 |
| A word from a client | Emery Sapp quotes a DOT engineer by name. Needs a real quote from one of WUCG's cities. | 01 |
| One big sentence about how they work | Traylor and Mortenson lead with a single large statement instead of a paragraph. | 01 |
| Doors along the bottom of the hero | Walsh puts four links across the foot of its hero image. | 02 |
| Kinds of work as tall photo cards | Kiewit's markets row; Kraemer's icon strip over photos. | 04, 09 |
| Outlined figures on a dark page | Kiewit's "Powerful resources. Proven results." numbers. | 04 |
| Alternating photo and text rows | Granite's home page rows. | 01, 08 |
| A grid of crew photos instead of a team page | Teichert closes its careers block with a wall of crew photos, no names. | 03 |
| One focused line about the work | Garney's "Building the future of water." | 03, 06 |
| Careers as a first class door, not a footer link | Sundt and Emery Sapp both put hiring in the hero. | 05, 09 |
Also reviewed: graniteconstruction.com, kiewit.com, sundt.com, emerysapp.com, teichert.com, garney.com, kraemerna.com, walshgroup.com, traylor.com, barnard-inc.com, shimmick.com, mortenson.com, flatironcorp.com, michels.us, kniferiver.com.
Options
| # | Desktop | Option | Idea comes from | Answers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 |
|
FlangeWarm and light. The hero photo sits inside the flange ring from the logo, bolt holes and all. One big sentence, the kinds of work as small flanges, alternating featured jobs, a client quote, a career ladder, and two doors at the end. | WUCG logo; Barnard, Traylor, Granite, Emery Sapp, Sundt |
|
| 02 |
|
CenterlineThe road from the logo runs down the page as a dashed yellow stripe. Each section is a station along it, STA 0+00 to 3+00, and the page ends at END PROJECT. | WUCG logo, civil stationing; Walsh |
|
| 03 |
|
Cross sectionThe hero is a drawing of a street cut open: asphalt, base rock, water main, sewer, storm culvert. Each layer is a kind of work WUCG does. On a phone the drawing scrolls sideways. | WUCG's own scopes; Garney, Teichert |
|
| 04 |
|
Night shiftDark page lit in sodium amber, led by the night signal photo. Outlined figures, five work cards, one featured job, careers sorted by role. | WUCG's night work photo; Kiewit, Kraemer |
|
| 05 |
|
Two ways inThe first screen asks one question: get a job built, or get a job? Each half of the page answers one of them, and the fab shop gets its own band. | Who actually visits; Sundt, Emery Sapp |
|
| 06 |
|
Hi-visA black and white hero, then every other photo in full color, tied together by safety orange: an orange rule under each work photo and black caption tags with orange numbers. Tall condensed type, "Dirt, Pipe, Road" as three big rows, a photo essay, an orange band of figures, and a hiring section called "Put on the vest." | Safety vests and signage; Garney |
|
| 07 |
|
Dirt. Pipe. Road.Big type does the work, so it needs only three photos. Numbered list of scopes, the figures, clients in a sentence, Bid it and Build it. | None |
|
| 08 |
|
A day on the jobThe page follows one working day, 5:45 AM in Yacolt to 4:30 at the shop. Each hour is a kind of work, so it shows range without naming a single job. | None |
|
| 09 |
|
IronStyled like fleet livery: navy paint, white stencil lettering, a rust stripe. Leads with the equipment, because operators look at the iron first. | Equipment decals; Kiewit |
|
| 10 |
|
The tidy upToday's site, fixed: same drone video and tagline, header laid over the video, six photos with captions instead of twenty five, clients and contact in cards. | His current site |
|
| 11 |
|
BentoThe whole company on one screen as rounded tiles: hero, bid, figures, photos, scopes, careers, fab shop, clients, contact. On a phone the tiles stack. | None |
|
| 12 |
|
The badgeLeans into the round logo as a stitched patch, while the header uses only the wordmark. | His logo comment |
|