Reimagining What It Means to Be a Clarkie: A Bold Website Redesign
Ranked the 66th “Best Colleges” and 32 in the list of “Best Value Schools” by U.S. News and World Report. Clark University needed to re-energize and change the platform of its primary digital presence. Our challenge was to redesign and develop a decentralized multisite network of websites that communicated the true texture of the Clark experience and what it means to be a Clarkie.
We helped Clark University tell their story through a dynamic, engaging, and robust digital experience.
First, it was clear that we needed to help Clark transition their CMS from Drupal to WordPress – mostly because of three simple variables: ease of management, flexibility, and cost.
For the re-design, we partnered closely with a team of internal researchers who had gathered sentiments from faculty, staff, and current and potential students. We extrapolated key themes from this existing information, and after performing a comprehensive site audit, peer evaluation, and examination of desired core site attributes, we produced a formal project recommendation.
For Clark, this meant defining site architecture, producing a visual sitemap, producing wireframes of defined pages, and finally, translating it all into a design system.
Drawing upon key elements of Clark’s already established brand standards, we worked with their Marketing & Communications and IT departments to design a site that was intuitive, simple, and bold. Our expertise in WordPress allowed Clark greater freedom over their own content while our ability to craft bespoke solutions enhanced the student and potential student experience. The final product reflects the mission, values, and character of Clark University by excelling in the following areas:
Ease of Navigation
Clark’s new navigation system is crisp, inviting, and highly intuitive – even for non-digital natives. Our “less-is-more” approach to design was particularly helpful here.
Wide Range of Components
We fabricated a highly customized storytelling platform that would allow for ample flexibility and creativity by the in-house team after our engagement was over.
Multiple Audiences
Clark’s new site was designed to accommodate a range of objectives that met the needs of undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty.
Multisite Network
We developed a multisite infrastructure to keep user and content delegation as streamlined as possible, affording Clark an effortlessly simple workflow.
