For the arrival of 2019, the College has made several changes to its overall branding, the most noticeable of which is the website. If you click onto the College’s website, you will find a more personal look at the Grinnell experience. The new site has a much more vibrant appearance than the old design.
The College hired branding agency Ologie to conduct user focus groups and testing to determine the best way to redesign the website, including what content users of the website would want to see.
Sarah Anderson, the director of content strategy in the Office of Communication, said that the focus groups indicated a desire for more content and functionality related to student life at Grinnell.
Specifically, Ologie identified the inclusion of photos and videos that showcase what it is like to be a student at Grinnell and easy ways to discover events occurring on and off campus as goals of the redesign.
Once Ologie determined their content and design strategy, the College’s long-term Drupal [an open-source Web development software] development team built the site.
The effectiveness of the building process is apparent, since the new design aspects of the website flow seamlessly with the older parts of it.
Although Anderson stated that updating the College’s website “was always part of the implementation plan for the brand strategy,” the recent changes also give students a look into the College’s continuing branding process.
The website created will be able to grow and change if need be, creating a flexible medium to show the evolution of the College’s brand.
The content team designed the website’s new elements to develop as the Grinnell experience changes and grows. Although many student stories, pictures and videos have already been added to the website, the redesign allows for the inclusion of many more pieces of the Grinnell experience to be added over time.
Anderson stated that this functionality allows the website to show the “richness and vibrancy of the student experience” to all who visit. The stories, which will be continuously added to the website, show what past Grinnell students have thought of the College alongside current student testimonials.
The variety of stories convey the message that, much like the website, the College’s story is never truly done.
