The redesign of the Interaction Design Association of Seattle which is a community for interaction designers of all levels that hosts events to network and learn.
My Role
Duration
Skills
Product Designer / UX Designer
13 weeks September - December 2021
Web Design, UI Design, Visual Design, Branding
Team
Location
.
Product Designer UX Designer
Human Centered Design and Engineering University of Washington
Why Redesign IxDA?
IxDA Seattle is a not-for-profit organization that focuses on advancing the discipline of Interaction Design by providing educational and social programming for local designers, from student to professional, often in collaboration with other design organizations and fostering a design community.
But there were some major issues with the design especially for a organization for designers:
Unclear Communication
What IxDA is and what they do is not immediately clear for the user.
Poor Hierarchy
Events are a big part of their mission but are not even mentioned on the homepage of their website.
Dim and muted look and feel
All images have a bluish-gray filter on them conveying a subdued feel contrasting their mission statement.
Problem Statement
How might we redesign IxDA’s website and branding to match the purpose of the organization?
What should the design communicate?
I developed the fundamental concepts for how users should feel and experience this site.
Engagement
Community
Innovation
Captivating and exciting place for designers.
Support among other like-minded individuals.
Cutting edge design practiced outside of work.
What could these principles look like?
Step one was creating a mood board to capture visually the principles I derived.
After deciding the mood we were going for I began to finally begin designing for the site with the wireframes of the homepage, events page, and a mobile version. I incorporated the playful modern feel from my moodboard.
Then came incorporating a proper grid system to keep consistency and organization within my designs. I decided to go with the common 12-column grid for the desktop version and 4 column grid for the mobile site.
12 count columns 90 pixel margin 12 pixel gutter
4 count columns 30 pixel margin 10 pixel gutter
And then came typography. The typeface IxDA uses is Moderat to support the innovative design goals of the organization.
The typeface looks modern and relevant matching the other elements chosen for the design system.
From here it was onto the logo. I wanted the logo to represent the innovative design principles of IxDA with the organic shape and the letters crossing the boundaries of the shape.
The analogous colors have a radial gradient outward creating a multidimensional effect which represents unity and diversity.
I got to this point from many explorations with possible forms, all incorporating the design principles in different ways.
Next came color. I was between a light soft color palette or a more dramatic color palette that contrasted the soft shapes in the wireframes but ended up choosing the softer one that complemented the overall design.
The colors chosen are tied together in the form of gradients from a dark and calming blue, to a soft lilac, and then to a warm yellow. The three colors were chosen to adhere to the thought-provoking yet unifying design goals.
The white brings clean lines and contrast to the gradient and the dark gray of the text brings a firm yet softer finish to the look of the typography.
Then I explored imagery. The imagery chosen is a mixture of illustrations and images of people that reflect community and the events that IxDA hosts.
Imagery chosen compliments the brand colors by matching or contrasting with the color palette. All images used were sourced from Unsplash.
From this project I was reminded about the intentionality that should go into every detail of the design. From the grid, color, imagery, the curves of the shapes, every detail should be linked back and closely tied to the design principles determined at the beginning of the project. Design is less about making something look good and more about communicating to the users the overall purpose of the organization.
