For my position with the Volunteer Resource Center at CU Boulder, it became my semester-long project in the fall to design the word-mark, branding, and website for a new initiative at the VRC called CU Serves.
This would be a new sector of the Volunteer Resource Center developed to house general volunteer opportunities, group volunteering, a new volunteer placement program, and a partnership with the Boulder Municipal Court for court-mandated community service.
The first step for this project was to meet with the Division of Student Affairs Communications Director, as this would be a CU-affiliated initiative and therefor would be required to meet the university’s brand and identity standards. Although I was given less room to move, I found that this was an excellent test to my ability to meet strict constraints while creating something visually appealing and timeless.
After I knew what I was working with, I began sketching. Ideation is one of my favorite stages of design. I let it all out on the paper, and then received feedback from my manager.
You may notice my original distaste for Helvetica. However, I quickly learned how under-appreciated this font really is. I looks simple and sophisticated, with even cap lines perfect for squaring, which proved to be my friend in the end.
I did some digital ideation as well, but in the process, I think we all knew which would come out the winner. After some tweaks and additions, the vector ended up looking beautiful, and passed all brand standards with the university.
Next came another fun part. We needed a website. As always, I began with some sketches. I drew out wireframes and possible layouts. Although I would still be limited due to following university guidelines, as well as using a proprietary web platform for creation of the site, I did not feel stifled by my parameters.
Following paper prototypes, I began creating wireframes in Adobe XD. This would allow VRC professional staff to overlook my work and ensure the usability and accuracy of my placements and site directions.
Once approved, I moved on to implementation. As mentioned, the University of Colorado has a school-wide mandated use of a proprietary system made for web design called WebExpress. This ensures a universal look and feel for the university and all of of its affiliated programs, departments, and organizations.
WebExpress is a semi-intuitive platform, but took some getting used to in comparison to what I have used in the past. This portion of development involved a lot of asset creation and copywriting.
All that was left was proofing and editing, checking for broken links, and final touches.
After months of work, we had a live site. This would still be a living, breathing entity within our website, but its creation had come to an end. I was given such an amazing opportunity to work on this project and truly test my ability to work under constraints while maintaining a creative workflow.
