AJP: World’s fastest growing jiu jitsu tournament organization

Abu Dhabi Jiu Jitsu Pro (AJP) is a professional Brazilian Jiu Jitsu organization created with the goal of developing the sport of jiu jitsu around the world. In 2023, Shakuro has been privileged to design and build a website for AJP.

The jiu jitsu Mecca

AJP represents a unique synergy of a modern grass-roots combat subculture and a national sport in the UAE all due to the vision and support of jiu jitsu by Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed. The federation that he had founded has quickly expanded beyond the UAE and now hosts local and international events in over 40 countries worldwide.

The mission

We were brought in as a result of a concept design we delivered to showcase our passion for the sport as practitioners and as a token of gratitude to the organization that has elevated the level of professional jiu jitsu competition to an unprecedented level. We’ve had the honor to work on the visual brand update and the design of a new global website experience.

The challenge

As a sports organization with over 7,000 registered athletes, AJP was already thriving. What they needed was a way to gain control over the infrastructure of the platform, customize it in a way that would be unique for the organization. Brand visuals update and modern UX practices came as important additions to the new platform.

The scope

Interactive event map
New navigation
Redesigned athlete profile
New content library
Redefined event registration experience
New mobile experience
Brand visual language

Identity system

AJP, being a part of the UAEJJF is under the brand umbrella but is not limited to the assets used by this larger parent entity. This gave us the freedom to create a dynamic but strict style of the website and brand visuals, dominated by the dark theme and dramatic heroic effects in posters and event graphics.

Palette Logo update Sub-brands Art

Palette

The color palette is inspired by faded colors of the desert at day- and nighttime. The bright accent colors are chosen to represent the solidity of jiu jitsu levels represented by the belts athletes tie around their waist.

Logo update

The AJP logo is more complex than it looks. The square represents the mat where since the ancient times two athletes meet in the middle to settle on who is the best. The city of Abu Dhabi has its own mark and features a strong presence on the AJP logo. The subtle update made by our team is improved geometry of the type, symmetry, and organization of the negative space.

Sub-brands

AJP is more than just a sports competition network. It’s a platform that connects athletes, staff, coaches, students, and enthusiasts of jiu jitsu. To cater to them, AJP builds a variety of educational and informational resources under one banner. Our goal was to create a diverse system allowing to scale different divisions as they emerge.

Art

To support AJP’s global expansion, we have developed a distinct visual style to replace stock photography used to produce event posters. The main idea is to represent the style of AJP’s vision while also promoting international tourism through jiu jitsu.

UI/UX design

Our biggest challenge in creating the experience was making it a welcoming platform while maintaining the technical complexity of a sports league. That means we had to rediscover the way athletes approach registration, plan their competitive calendar, analyze stats and opponets’ performance based on past tournaments.

Home page Rankings Athlete profile Events Event page Roaster

Home page

The Home page attributes to the main goal of the website – help athletes in their competition career by providing the avenue to maximize their potential. To do that, we heave created a layout that keeps them motivated, provides visual guidance, and sets them up for a safe and exciting jiu jitsu journey.

Rankings

Ranked athletes rack up points and get qualified to take part in World Championships for a chance to win a title, cash prizes, and cement themselves as exceptional competitors. AJP is a very meticulous organization that rewards consistent performance. Our goal for the Rankings section was to help athletes navigate through categories and divisions, discover other competitors, and analyze their performance.

Athlete profile

As a sports league, AJP puts emphasis on individual athlete performance. The profiles are public, so the information has to be visual, stats easily identifiable, and achievements thoroughly displayed. Our athlete profile design caters to professionals and super stars as well as hobbyists, beginners, and kids. Minimal, straight-to-the-point, and universal.

Events

AJP jiu jitsu competitions are festive events that players and academies plan months ahead. Our goal here was to create an interactive experience with easy and intuitive registration, clear distinction of different caliber events, and unfold the global reach of the organization.

Event page

An event page includes a detailed schedule and venue information, as well as the list of participants, and even brackets generated ahead of the competition. Past events display the results with scores, and victory methods recorded for each fight.

Roaster

Jiu jitsu is often referred to as a participant sport, meaning it’s heavily experiential. On top of that, each practitioner is a potential participant due to the wide variety of age, rank, and weight categories, designed to create fair and safe competition environment. Our Athlete roaster does just that.

Outcome

The ajp.world website went live in 2024 and became a stepping stone in the company’s journey towards an innovative digital experience.

Producer comment

As a team that consists of avid jiu jitsu practitioners, this was a dream project for us and a chance to give back to the organization that grows our sport like no other league on the planet.
Moses Kim
Creative Producer