The 2024 UCDA Design Awards honored Carnegie with two awards for our web design work for Columbia College and Reed College. In the Website – Entire Site category Columbia College received an Honorable Mention and Reed College won GOLD. We’re excited to share a sneak peek into the strategy and intent behind the work of our web team in crafting two beautiful websites.
For over 20 years, the University & College Designers Association Design Awards Competition has recognized the best of exceptional design and creative work as part of our mission to promote design excellence, support educational institutions, and drive the exchange of ideas and information relating to the unique role creatives play in education and the world.
Columbia College
The Goal:
Columbia College wanted a website that was both emotionally resonant with visitors but also clean, easy-to-use, and accessible. Columbia wanted to polish the visual design with a curated dropdown navigation to help users navigate the site more efficiently. Additionally, they wanted to reduce the repetition and clutter on landing pages. The biggest priority was crafting an accessible and ADA-compliant website without compromising on design goals.
The Results
Carnegie built a comprehensive and modern design system to unite Columbia’s new look and feel while ensuring the site was as user-friendly as possible. The team designed a complete suite of buttons and text styles to replace the old system and bring not only cohesion but accessibility to the design. On the front end, the team put the website through rigorous QA and accessibility testing. On the back end, they worked closely with Columbia’s content management system to ensure they were supported throughout the project and will continue to be successful post-launch.
The final website accurately represents Columbia College’s brand identity. It’s full of bold colors and uses imagery and copy that fosters a sense of belonging. Besides being beautiful to look at, the site is easy to use, and includes robust search features that help users find what they’re looking for with minimal clicks.
Reed College
The Goal
Reed College wanted a streamlined, mobile-friendly website with refined information architecture and a robust design system. They wanted to optimize their website for the prospective student while still providing an intuitive, user-friendly experience for internal audiences. It all had to be wrapped in a design that captured the institution’s distinct personality; showcasing its people, sense of place, and strong academic programs.
The Results
The Carnegie team did a discovery to get to know the unique atmosphere at Reed — finding a student body that is curious, detail-oriented, and interested in the specifics of their education. This information gave a roadmap to the kinds of features and content to be implemented. The design involved the creation of a program finder tool and a central degree section. Carnegie rewrote Reed’s program pages to offer consistent content that highlighted unique Reed offerings and outcomes.
The final design includes interactive components that offer users clear opportunities to dive deeper and learn more. Throughout the site, users will find Reed students front and center telling their stories.
The UCDA Design Awards are judged by a hand-picked panel of peer jurors composed of designers, design educators, photographers, and illustrators working in or doing a significant portion of their work for educational institutions. Head to the UCDA Awards website to see the full gallery of winners!
If you’re looking for a partner on your next website development project, reach out and start a conversation.