IMC Website Rebrand
The Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center: IMC was founded in 2000 by a collective of artists and activists who wanted to democratize access to arts and media production in the wake of media consolidation and the defunding of the arts. One of the problems new visitors face is having difficulty figuring out how to get involved with the IMC. The website rebrand focused on improving the virtual usability of the center and expanding the reach it has in the community. Research was done in collaboration with Sharon Chun, Matthew Waldinger, and David Del Toro Jr. All website designs are my own.
Begin with Empathy
The first step to a successful website rebrand is to identify the target audience and be understanding of what their needs are. The target audience we identified for the IMC was new visitors searching for enjoyment of the arts, music, and community. We were concerned with how newcomers to Urbana-Champaign would find out about the IMC and figure out how they can be involved. We planned to use focus groups, psychographics, and surveys to learn more about the potential website users.
Ideate
We created a new brand identity for the Independent Media Center that was reflective of their young adult audience and representative of how fun and retro the art and music scene is. We rebranded the IMC using a modern typeface, bright/energetic colors, and an updated logo, created by Matthew Waldinger. The goal was to attract college students and increase overall traffic.
Within my website design I focused on reorganizing the information in cohesive but interesting manner. I used images that would elicit emotional responses of excitement, intrigue, and desire.
You can view my interactive prototype here!