Category: 2017

UW Colleges Website

A person is holding a smartphone displaying a webpage about colleges while sitting at a laptop showing a similar website. A notebook and pen are on the table, and the laptop screen shows images of books and a college logo.

UW Colleges Website

The UW Colleges website was in desperate need of an overhaul, both structurally and visually. I collaborated with the project manager and web developer to discuss the target audiences, establish goals, and determine necessary information.

I knew this had to be a responsive website. Mobile viewership had grown exponentially in the past few years, internally and globally. I also knew that we needed the website to be accessible. Colors were carefully chosen to remain within brand standards while still adhering to accessibility standards. Alt tags were mandatory as well as set ARIA roles.

Seeing as our main audience were late highschoolers, I knew the information needed to be accessible and quickly. I incorporated large, bold photography paired with rich colors to create a visual hierarchy. “Mega” menus were integrated into navigation and content, presenting the viewer with all available content.

Isthmus Dining Company Branding

A restaurant menu from Isthmus Dining Company is laid on a dark slate surface, surrounded by fresh rosemary sprigs, two uncooked lamb chops, a small bowl of peppercorns, sea salt, and a bowl of oil.

Isthmus Dining Company Branding

I was approached by the Isthmus Dining Company in creating a brand for their new business. Seeing as the owner was a native of Madison, WI, he wanted to feature the iconic Madison isthmus in the logo.

The isthmus you see in the logo is the actual shape and shoreline of the city isthmus. I thought it very important to establish to customers that this was a local food establishment, a “one-of-us” feel if you will.

I opted for a thin, “modern” font and focused on using lowercase letters to reinforce the local “small-town” motif.

UW Colleges Campus Viewbooks

A collage of University of Wisconsin brochures, featuring diverse students, maps, and text. Images include a smiling student with a backpack, a person using a microscope, and a scenic campus view. University logos are visible on each piece.

UW Colleges Campus Viewbooks

UW Colleges is a unique entity due to its 13 diverse campuses. Though all of the campuses cater to both traditional and nontraditional students, they vary in location, size and courses offered. More often than not, I have to reversion our deliverables out thirteen times, with the campus viewbooks being no exception. Though this can be tedious, I pride myself in treating each as a separate campus.

Every campus has its own published viewbook as well as a digital flipbook version. The viewbook is used to be the main contact and informational piece between the potential student and their local campus. Each viewbook is not going to read the same since each contains different details as to what makes the campus unique, individualized infographics, benefits lists and fluently-presented data.

Choosing original photos of actual students for the campus viewbooks was important, as I wanted our target audience to get a realistic idea of what each campus has to offer.

UW Colleges Viewbook

An open brochure featuring a student in a science lab with goggles and gloves, a basketball game, a classroom setting, a graduation cap, and two students talking in a hallway. Text highlights reasons to attend UW Colleges, emphasizing accessibility and affordability.

UW Colleges Viewbook

The UW Colleges viewbook was intended to sum up the mammoth of an institution the University of Wisconsin System is. It is an overall view of the university and what UW Colleges can offer to traditional and non-traditional students.

Within the booklet are short descriptions of each campus. I felt it was important to keep this lengthy viewbook engaging and visually-inspiring while still providing viewers with enough information to make their college decision. Other content includes degree and financial information, statistics about the campuses, student life and campus facts. All of the content is geared towards potential students being able to understand UW Colleges as an overall institution and the individual campuses within it.

Like most of my work for UW Colleges, I used photos of real students on campus. Authenticity is vital in helping students make an accurate and informed decision when planning for their higher education. It also keeps the branding of the campuses to be anything but cookie cutter.


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