Shortly after I began working with CDP, I lead the efforts to overhaul their visual identity. This included not only a entirely new website but also all of their printed materials: business cards, brochures, proposal templates, letterhead, office templates, cad standards and drawing templates, and presentation templates.
I had two critical goals for the website. It had to be both easy for the user to navigate and easy for the firm to update. Too often websites, particularly those for architecture firms, make a splash when they are created but being difficult to add projects/content they can often go years without an update.
Working very closely with Method Bureau on the design and implementation, I and in-house designer Brandon Cothron developed page layouts, graphic language, organizational structure, and navigational systems. We also developed series of forms for the content management system that would allow easy updates including the uploading of new projects in a matter of minutes.
The navigation bar at the top makes it easy for a user to both know where they are and how to navigate to a different portion of the site. The content was divided into Firm, which contained all general firm related information, and Work. When FIRM is selected subcatagories appear with FIRM remaining highlighted. When WORK selected, the user has an option of two navigational systems: thumbnail view or list view which allows the sorting of projects based on user's interest.
For the content management, an invisible button calls up a log-in box. Once logged-in, the CMS relies heavily on the already existing navigation and organization of the website but new options and fields appear where they had not previously. These new links open forms for easy data entry. The result is a system that is easy to understand and straight-forward to update.
I had two critical goals for the website. It had to be both easy for the user to navigate and easy for the firm to update. Too often websites, particularly those for architecture firms, make a splash when they are created but being difficult to add projects/content they can often go years without an update.
Working very closely with Method Bureau on the design and implementation, I and in-house designer Brandon Cothron developed page layouts, graphic language, organizational structure, and navigational systems. We also developed series of forms for the content management system that would allow easy updates including the uploading of new projects in a matter of minutes.
The navigation bar at the top makes it easy for a user to both know where they are and how to navigate to a different portion of the site. The content was divided into Firm, which contained all general firm related information, and Work. When FIRM is selected subcatagories appear with FIRM remaining highlighted. When WORK selected, the user has an option of two navigational systems: thumbnail view or list view which allows the sorting of projects based on user's interest.
For the content management, an invisible button calls up a log-in box. Once logged-in, the CMS relies heavily on the already existing navigation and organization of the website but new options and fields appear where they had not previously. These new links open forms for easy data entry. The result is a system that is easy to understand and straight-forward to update.
Homepage with randomly-generated splash images.
Firm: Recognition. Typical content page layout
Firm: People.
Work: Thumb View.
Work: List View. Sortable by headings at top.
Work: Project Page.
CMS Log-in
Work: List View with CMS features engaged.
CMS: Project Editor - Data
CMS: Project Editor - Images
CMS: Personel Entry Form
