Hillsdale College’s website is getting a makeover.
A group of staff and student designers are working together to build a new design and to switch to a new content management system. They hope to have 90 percent of the website done by July 1.
“The website has remained static for a few years,” said Instructor in Art Bryan Springer. “We want to refresh the functionality, make information more accessible, and keep the content fresh on our home page.”
Springer is part of the team working on the project, and leads the web design aspect of the team.
Director of Marketing William Gray said the website has looked the same for about five years.
“It was time to refresh the site,” Gray said.
The team that Springer oversees is composed of six students who are responsible for creating the new look of the website. Springer gives art direction, coordinates the graphic design, and discusses the project with the students.
Junior Kelly Chisum is a member of the design team.
She said she first heard of the opportunity from Springer in her design class.
“It sounded like a good opportunity,” Chisum said. “I feel like I am learning a lot through this process.”
Chisum said all of the student designers comes up with their own design. The group then comes together to discuss existing websites that the designers like, and the components they want to include in their own work. Springer sends the designs to the marketing team, and the students then receive feedback and continue to tweak and improve their ideas.
“Doing our own designs and then looking at other people’s has been really helpful,” Chisum said. “We get ideas from each other. It is really good to be able to design individually and also collaborate.”
The marketing department collected responses from a survey it distributed to students, faculty and staff, alumni, and friends of the college. The results are also informing their plans for the site.
“Overall, the response was good,” Gray said. “The results reflect a need for a new site and design.”
Gray said the biggest complaint was that the site was hard to navigate.
Springer said he gives some verbal art direction, offers ideas, and establishes some standards based on his own knowledge and standards. But the students are primarily working on their own.
“We had design students come up with very good and very strong designs,” Gray said. “We were impressed.”
Springer said it has been a great opportunity to be involved in a real-world project.
“I am getting a feel for all the behind-the-scenes work of a website,” Chisum said. “It has been a great experience.”
