Providing structure to a far reaching, fast paced esports news group
The challenge
Esports is a rapidly growing industry that brings the players, fans, and game studios together. While gaming journalism has long been established, coverage of the competitive side of gaming remains surprisingly limited. Dexerto has emerged as a leading voice in this space, offering in-depth commentary on major esports events and all the behind-the-scenes goings on.
Podcasts and video commentaries had become essential for Dexerto in connecting with its audience, but their existing site couldn’t support the volume or variety of content they aimed to produce daily. The goal was to design a site that would engage visitors from any entry point, offering a clear and compelling reason to stay, with a strong focus on showcasing their digital content.
Keep your head in the game
User research revealed that most visitors arrived via articles shared on social media, making it essential to create pathways for further exploration beyond those articles. While the content existed, it remained siloed. This presented an opportunity to build a wiki-like structure around the most popular games and players, integrating profiles, gamer guides, and league results into a more cohesive experience.
In parallel with this restructuring, I was tasked with developing a new digital design system, which involved a significant brand refresh. We retained the original logo and sub-brands but revisited all typography and colour. Live event content sits on dark by default, while articles and guides used a light background (with a full dark mode option available). The high contrast between sections pushed me to experiment heavily with shape and cutouts, providing a nod to in-game UI and isometric geometry.
The typography draws inspiration from first-person shooter and science-fiction games, with the use of bold, blocky headings and monospaced type for short or label copy. Repeated text and tickers, something most gamers will be familiar with, are used to create movement and texture when space allows, but never detract from the content itself.
The final design provides a flexible and robust system that reflects its audience, while offering the scalability and adaptability needed to support Dexerto’s ever-changing content needs.