Designer: Samuel Berkes
Assignment: Design a website that is
accessible to people in remote areas of
the globe who do not have access to
the latest technologies. Also, make it
fresh, dynamic, and contemporary,
without any glitz or graphics requiring hi-tech systems.
No sweat, right?
Tackling this balancing act, designer Samuel
Berkes worked to meet all the needs required by
the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross
in his redesign of its website. According to the
Congregation’s director of communications, Barbara
Wade, “We are a not-for-profit organization that
works within modest budget limitations and any web
redesign must be completed in-house. Our vision is
to have a site that strikes a balance between sisters
with technical limitations located throughout the
world and also a technologically savvy public.”
The Congregation would also like its site to
boost donations and help educate the general public
on its mission and ministries, all while attracting
women to vocation programs. “Holy Cross sisters
practice a contemplative spirituality while being
women of action,” says Wade.
To increase traffic and grow its ministry, the
Congregation’s website needs a fresh look. The original
site design is dated, copy heavy, compartmentalized,
and difficult to navigate. Additionally, Wade
would like a “headline news” section featuring changing
stories.
To this end, Berkes chose top-tab navigation
that remains static on each page for user ease. He
suggests modern fonts (Arial for its universality
and legibility) and colors (a natural, web-safe, and
symbolically strong palette) to complete the contemporary
transformation within the group’s technical
constraints. Lastly, he added small touches to the
logo to increase the natural look of the earth and
vines and to provide cohesion between all pages of
the site. The result is a fluid, connected website.
