UN Office of the Special Envoy to Haiti website
CMS-based website information architecture and design, 2010
CMS-based website information architecture and design, 2010
I designed this site pro-bono for the United Nations' Office for Special Envoy to Haiti Bill Clinton and Deputy Envoy Dr. Paul Farmer.
The primary design challenge was to organize the Office's collection of informational reports, press releases, and multimedia—from a grab-bag of various NGO and UN sources—into a cohesive information architecture. Since the site would need to be maintained by office staff, I designed a simple grid structure with clear typographic hierarchy, and helped the Office migrate to a Content Management System.
The primary design challenge was to organize the Office's collection of informational reports, press releases, and multimedia—from a grab-bag of various NGO and UN sources—into a cohesive information architecture. Since the site would need to be maintained by office staff, I designed a simple grid structure with clear typographic hierarchy, and helped the Office migrate to a Content Management System.
We began the project several months before the 2010 Port-au-Prince earthquake, and were nearly completed when the quake struck. The quake necessitated a rapid re-architecture and re-design to provide crucial announcements from the Office on relief and recovery efforts.
The initial site was designed with a warm Caribbean color palette and joyful imagery, to promote Haiti's rise above its troubled past. After the earthquake, we chose a more subdued, formal color palette and added a large-format slideshow to the home page that showcased UN photographers' striking and uplifting images of recovery.
The initial site was designed with a warm Caribbean color palette and joyful imagery, to promote Haiti's rise above its troubled past. After the earthquake, we chose a more subdued, formal color palette and added a large-format slideshow to the home page that showcased UN photographers' striking and uplifting images of recovery.
