Katie Hansen | USModernist

Purpose:

This redesign was completed for USModernist, and its sister site NCModernist, which together make up the largest archive of modernist architecture in the nation today. This 501C3 nonprofit and educational archive aims to document, preserve and promote modernist architecture around the country. The goal for this redesign was to build out an improved design for the site that achieved a more modern look and feel that more closely aligned with the goals of the nonprofit.

Process:

I started this project by researching a variety of examples that the client considered to have a more modernist design. I found common themes such as bold lines, majority black and white colors, with the occasional pop of one or two bright colors to compliment. I chose black, while to match these modernist themes as well as a bold red for a pop of color to match the site’s logo. I largely reorganized the navigation menu as well as the footer to be responsive and flow in a more visually appealing manner. Each of the individual main pages received a design update as well to better match the new look and feel of the site. This involved adding things like updated fonts, new bolder titles, bold line separators as well as hover effects over links.

The original pages for both of these sites were originally created using Microsoft Expression Web so there were quite a few conflicting styles and some messy markup that I had to work around as well. One challenge we encountered was that each time the client tried to add more content to the website, using Microsoft Expression Web would sometimes override the updated designs. We were able to solve this by changing the way the files were edited, which preserved the design updates.

Phase 2:

I am currently building an ArcGIS database for NCModernist to store all of the data that has been gathered over the years. This database will contain all information collected regarding modernist houses in North Carolina including but not limited to, address with geolocation point, architect, name, year built, and description of the house and architectural process. Once this database is complete, I will be adding a custom map to the home page that will allow users to view and search a map of all recorder modernist properties in North Carolina. Along with this map, I will also be building out other improved site functionality using this data.