The Alumni Relations Department at RU connects with recent and future graduates, provides valuable resources on jobs and benefits, and continuously works towards building a thriving community.
In 2015, I had the pleasure of redesigning the Alumni Relations website, as well as the microsites that extend the faculty’s mission: the Alumni Weekend website, and the Alumni Relations eNewsletter.
The original Alumni Relations site was extremely outdated, difficult to read, and almost impossible to navigate.
Besides being generally inaccessible, the site did not distinguish itself well from other institutions in the field.
My first step was to conduct competitor research and lay out a sitemap.
In my research, I found that competitor sites did a terrible job at surfacing key information and resources for their alumni. My goal with RU’s Alumni site was to make support and information quick and easy to find.
Creating an effective and navigable structure as a first step made creating wireframes and laying out information simple.
The clients most important ask was to have a “Donate” button constantly available, regardless of the user’s place in the website. You’ll see this reflected in the sitemap below.
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alumni using more resources
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event attendance
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negative outreach to the faculty
AA
level WCAG accessible
Ryerson University’s bold blue and gold colours lent themselves very nicely in creating recognizable materials.
I collaborated with photographers at on-site events to incorporate open and welcoming imagery into as many of the communication points as possible.
Microsites like Alumni Weekend, and digital newsletters like The Ryerson Connection, are fun opportunities to further expand on the brand identity.
Connecting entrepreneurs with valuable content
Building trust through shared values and honest culture
Sharing events with friends to create memories
A family-friendly deli in Toronto
Say hi!
dina.smithhayes@gmail.com →
