Lane CC Website Redesign - for students only

Design Showcase [the unContest]

Results are in, see the top 10 entries
and the iPad winner!

WIN! WIN! WIN!WIN! WIN! WIN!

Rules and Regs

I. What you’ll do
Lane Community College needs your help redesigning their website. The main objective of this project is to come up with an updated look and feel for the site that will primarily target the current and future student population. The menu [navigational structure] should also be updated to be more user friendly. Your job is to create a graphical layout for the homepage of the site. And don’t worry, you don’t have to build it.

Think smart, dream big. Own it. Enter as often as you like.

II. What you’ll win
Did we say win? But it’s not a contest - it’s an unContest. A panel of not necessarily important people will pick the top ten designs. These designs will be showcased [ah yes, here’s where Showcase comes in] repeat, be showcased from Lane’s current home page. All top ten entries will be entered into a drawing for some incredible prizes. Grand prize is an iPad and the other top nine designers will receive a gift certificate to the LaneCC Titan store.

III. What you’ll lose
Probably some sleep. Also, Lane will have some rights to your design. That’s right. You'll be licensing your design to us under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Better check it out. The good news is you may get a prize. You might even become famous. At the very least you’ll have a great portfolio piece and something to talk about.

IV. When’s it due
In honor of the creative spirit and busy schedules of our students - we are extending the contest deadline until 11:59 pm, Sunday, February 26. Judging will take place by March 31, 2012 and you will be notified by email if you are in the top ten. Top ten designs will also be on display on lanecc.edu.

V. And now the nitty-gritty:

File formats: .png only. Feel free to work in your favorite program, including Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, or InDesign, but upload your final design as a .png file format only. Don't dump those original files (in fact, save them for at least until June 30th, 2012)! When saving your original work do not flatten your design. Leave all layers intact. Who knows, you may get a call back for future work.

Work in RGB. Design your layout for 1280 x 800px. The page may be longer than 800px–scrolling down is fine–but make sure the most important info is above the fold line (800px height).

Creative Commons and Copyright. With a Creative Commons license, you keep your copyright but allow people to copy, modify and distribute your work provided they give you credit — and only on the conditions you specify. All works turned in will be licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Submit your entry at: www.lanecc.edu/designshowcase/submit.php. Enter as often as you like but please submit each entry separately.

Drop all the unnecessary stuff. Keep what is important to you. What features would you like to see? Search boxes? Slideshows? Mega-menus? More pictures? Scratch-n-sniff? [just kidding] Anything goes. Remember, think smart, dream big, own it.

Navigation: Review the current site’s home page. Think about navigation and what you, as a student, would want on the homepage. Emphasis should be on current and future students. Secondary to the student population as a target audience is the community. Once you have reviewed the current page, review the suggested list below. Incorporate changes to links according to how you, as a student, would feel comfortable navigating the site. Same with the look and feel. Elements that should either be included on the home page [or a link to them should be prominently located on the site] include the following:

main menu [you may use a mega menu - example below]
link to myLane and Moodle
search box
Lane logo [does not necessarily need to be upper left but should be highly visible, no color changes]
fat footer [example below]
anything else you as a student feel should be on the home page

HOT TIP: You can minimize navigation with tabbed sections, drop-down menus, etc. or even try a mega-menu. What’s a megamenu? Glad you asked. See examples below. Also check out fat footers.

VI. Get inspired
This is not an endorsement as some of the sites are not so good but have good elements in them that may inspire you.

vandelaydesign.com/blog/galleries/best-educational-websites/ several good examples
www.washington.edu/ - drop down mega-menus, fat footer, use of accordion menus on the right
tour.brooklyn.cuny.edu/ - shows the power of good photos and its a cool tour
www.asu.edu/myfuture/ - nice way to help people work through what their path is, could be used in multiple ways
wallacecenter.rit.edu/ - blue-sky / Illustrator style in the banner & footer.
www.fhu.edu/why/ - interesting use of icons and scrolling
www.ct.edu/ - nice drop down boxes with extra info not just links
www.uindy.edu - shows tabs for different visitors,
oregonstate.edu/ - not bad for not being ducks
www.columbiacollegesc.edu/ - one idea of how we could make the header interesting
www.kent.edu/ - nice example of keeping focus on students, most links and information is geared towards students
www.kent.edu/?&mobile=yes - Kent's mobile entryway, good start for offering info geared toward mobile
www.loyno.edu/ - drop down menus, footer, student navigation, all interesting ideas

Miscellaneous files and information

Lane CC logos are available for download:
- Lane logo (.eps)
- Lane logo (.ai)
Grab social networking icons off the web or create your own
Pictures - use copyright free placeholder pictures or grab your cell phone and start shooting

Think smart.
Dream big.
Own it.

[enter as often as you like]

For more information contact:
Meredith Keene-Wilson
Media Arts Instructor
Lane Community College
keene-wilsonm@lanecc.edu
(541) 463-3022