Final Project in HCDE 508 Visual Communications

For our final project, I created new visual designs for Ignite Seattle’s website. Here is the Old site.

The redesign consisted of a desktop homepage and a subpage, a mobile homepage and a subpage, and a printed collateral that advertised an event or the organization. The objective was to create a consistent look and feel across mediums and platforms by using color, typography, form, and messaging. The goal was to demonstrate a unified visual system.

I redesigned the IA, layout, and branding based on the assumed goals and objectives of the organization.

My 3 design goals were:

• Make the speakers rockstars. This meant creating more compelling video experience and highlighting the speakers through improved layout. I used a card system to highlight the individuality of the speakers that was lost in the chronological, blog format.
• Improve discoverability of related/older content. A metaphor I used was, “It’s like a box of chocolates.” Ignite started in Seattle, dating back to 2006, so there is a lot of content. It is currently organized chronologically and archived by the month and year. I “designed for the next step” by surfacing and highlighting archived, related, and previous/next content. (Obviously, that means content strategy, IA, and metadata need to be reworked.) I also added sorting capabilities to support browsing and exploration.
• Make the site reflect the event itself and make people feel like they were there. Brady Forrest, the co-founder of Ignite, shared in a talk that Ignite should be welcoming, inviting, and warm. The website should capture that energy and warmth as well. I chose colors that reflected that and the diversity of topics brought to the stage. Tactically, I brought photos from the event into the speaker page to contextualize the talk and added commenting to help foster an open community.

Before even touching Illustrator or Photoshop, I researched the organization and its audience, and conducted a brief content audit. I also performed competitive reviews of other Ignite websites (i.e. Boulder, San Diego, Minneapolis, etc). Based on that, I created a creative brief to summarize my design goals.

Then I organized the required content, sketched potential layouts, and created wireframes before determining my design direction. After doing numerous iterations, I redesigned the logo to match the look and feel of the new site. Lastly, I designed a poster for Ignite Seattle 27 that matched the new branding and event theme.

Below are the final designs.

Ignite Seattle Homepage (desktop)

Ignite Seattle Speaker Page (desktop)

Ignite Seattle Homepage (mobile)

Ignite Seattle Speaker Page (mobile)

Ignite Seattle 27 Poster