Eddie Jones Official Website
Project Overview
The Eddie Jones website was designed and developed in 2005 by Isura Wickramarachchi as the official online presence for Eddie Jones, an American columnist, writer, humorist, and public speaker. The website was created to promote his books, newspaper columns, newsletters, speaking engagements, and media appearances while providing readers with a central location to learn more about his work and contact him for events. Eddie Jones later became known as an award-winning author, writing instructor, and speaker, although this website represents an earlier stage of his writing career.
Unlike many author websites of the period, which were primarily text-based, this project adopted a bold and highly creative visual approach. The website blended illustration, photography, and carefully planned navigation to create a memorable identity that reflected Eddie Jones' humorous personality and relaxed coastal lifestyle.
Design & Structure
One of the most distinctive aspects of the website is its unconventional three-panel layout. Instead of using the traditional header, sidebar, and content arrangement that dominated websites in 2005, the homepage is divided into three independent vertical panels, each serving a different purpose.
The left panel functions as a visual introduction, featuring an illustrated portrait of Eddie Jones together with his title, Columnist, Writer and Humorist. The illustration immediately establishes a personal connection with visitors and gives the website a unique artistic identity.
The centre panel serves as the primary navigation area. Rather than using ordinary text links or horizontal menus, the navigation is presented as a tall, rounded graphical panel with a subtle sailboat background. This creative treatment transforms the navigation itself into a major design element while maintaining excellent readability.
The right panel is dedicated entirely to News Updates, allowing visitors to immediately view Eddie's latest announcements, speaking engagements, and activities without navigating deeper into the website. This layout gives the homepage a magazine-like appearance and encourages visitors to return regularly for updated content.
Unique Design Features
- Innovative three-column panel layout, uncommon for websites of the mid-2000s.
- Completely custom-designed interface with no commercial templates.
- Large illustrated portrait instead of a conventional banner photograph.
- Navigation integrated into a beautifully designed graphical panel.
- Independent news section positioned alongside the main content for maximum visibility.
- Rounded interface elements with soft shadows and gradient effects, creating depth and a modern appearance.
- Nautical-themed background imagery reflecting the author's coastal lifestyle and writing interests.
- Consistent blue colour palette providing a calm, professional, and distinctive visual identity.
- Minimalist design that emphasizes simplicity while remaining visually engaging.
The overall composition resembles a printed magazine cover rather than a conventional website, making it highly memorable and visually distinctive.
Technical Highlights
- Static HTML website.
- Fully handcrafted interface designed specifically for the client.
- Custom graphical navigation and page layouts.
- Dedicated sections for books, newsletters, media clips, appearances, and frequently asked questions.
- News update section designed for easy content maintenance.
- Cross-browser compatible with the leading web browsers of 2005.
- Lightweight architecture providing fast loading performance.
Significance
The Eddie Jones website demonstrates how a personal author website could move beyond standard web design conventions to create a unique and recognizable digital identity. Rather than relying on traditional page layouts, the project introduced an innovative panel-based interface that successfully balanced personality, usability, and visual creativity.
The project reflects Isura Wickramarachchi's design philosophy of creating original, handcrafted websites tailored to each client's character and profession. Every graphical component—from the illustrated portrait to the custom navigation system and integrated news panel—was individually designed to reinforce Eddie Jones' personal brand. More than two decades later, the archived website remains an excellent example of creative early-2000s web design, showcasing how originality and thoughtful interface design could make a personal website stand out in an era dominated by conventional layouts.
In the late 80's Eddie launched a column called "Hard Aground with Eddie" that found its way into the pages of Carolina Cruising Magazine thanks to Bert Quay, former founding editor of Carolina Cruising Magazine. A couple of years later the publication changed its name to Coastal Cruising Magazine and Eddie continued his Hard Aground adventures until the column jumped ship in the late 90's to join Cruising World's Tom Neale at Cruising Coast and Islands.
Eddie's Hard Aground column is available on TownDock.net, Oriental North Carolina's unofficial gateway to the world. You can also find his column in Living Aboard Magazine and The Lake Norman Times.
Over the years, Eddie has served as cruising editor for Carolina Living, was regional editor for Embassy Marine's Mid-Atlantic Cruising Guide and has written sailing articles for Latitudes & Attitudes, Carolina Style, Lookout and Maritimes Magazine.
Eddie is a member of the NC Writers Network, Boating Writers International, Christian Boaters Organization and the Neuse Sailing Association. He has an English degree from NC State, with an emphasis in journalism. When he's not sailing and writing, Eddie spends his time surfing the coastal Out Islands of the Carolinas and Bahamas or snowboarding in West Virginia and the Rockies.
We have recently added a frequently asked questions page for those who want to know more about Eddie. There is also a page detailing how the author developed the Hard Aground concept.
Eddie, his wife Bennie and their two sons, Win and Mason still sail out of Oriental, NC ... when they can get their sailboat off the mud in its slip.
Copyright © - 2005 | Eddie Jones
සංවාදයට එක්වන්න.