The PBS website looked dated and did not work well on mobile devices. It was long overdue for a redesign. Whatever I did, had to match to existing logo, colors and illustrations. It also had to be easy to use for a wide range of users.
We opted for a site structure with four “home” pages, each aimed at a different audience. The site also needed information about the organization, downloadable resources and online forms. The website has two menus: one for the home pages and another for everything else.
For visual interest, I chose illustrations instead of photos. This was a fun, but very practical choice. We didn’t want to turn away students who think photographs and/or modern clothes are wrong. Illustrations stay relevant longer than photos do and load faster. These were two other reasons to use them for this project.
The new site took off, and has been a constant source of new students.