Web Palette

The current web palette was chosen during the 2006 redesign process after reviewing a series of drafts that tested different color schemes for their fit with other college publications, general aesthetics, and brand messaging.

The redesign sought to modernize the previous college website—a look that had been in use since 2002. As part of the general “modernization” of the design, a full wash of color with gradients was used for most negative space in the layout where the old design used only a white background.

The first draft used the PMS logo colors, which look markedly different on a screen than when printed. The design was far too bright, and the washes restricted the use of color images that clashed with the bright blue and green easily and often. The PMS colors, presumably intended to be used on a white field, are not differentiated enough in value to prevent ‘vibration’ when relied upon to produce contrast with each other alone. After several attempts to de-saturate one color or another both failed to produce satisfactory results and were no longer adhering to the official colors anyway, the attempt to use blue and green was scrapped.

Taking cues from past Admissions publications, which made heavy use of dark green, a design draft was produced that used entirely greens. Multiple shades of green were produced with value differences substantial enough to allow for good contrast. While this was more aesthetically pleasing than the bright blue and green, it still created unpleasant color juxtapositions with the images in the layout.

The final draft—which was put into production in 2007—de-saturated the greens almost to the point of gray to make them more neutral and allow them to be used effectively alongside color images. The darkest shade of green, while not being the PMS value used by Admission, actually looks to the eye closer to that used by Admission. The white areas in text backgrounds were replaced with beige and off-white—various shades of which have been used frequently in both Admission and Advancement publications for the past decade.

In regards to brand messaging, the colors deliberately “Green” Warren Wilson to reflect our environmental stance. The beige and off-white seek to create an unbleached paper or “recycled” look. The use of smooth, almost metallic, gradients and clean washes keep the website looking modern, foster a perception of quality, and create a deliberate contrast with the “crunchy” hippie aesthetic.

The school colors of blue and gold were not considered for several reasons, including: they are not currently widely used in any college publications; there has not been a widespread interest in or respect for this particular part of the college’s history among the website’s primary constituencies; “respect for tradition” is not a brand message that can be as easily conveyed using only color as our environmental stance is, nor is respect for tradition currently a stronger element in the college’s brand identity than environmentalism; and the colors blue and gold would have been substantially harder to make successful in a serious design. It should be noted that the Advancement website design used a blue and gold color scheme from 2002 to 2005 and it was abandoned.

For further information and examples concerning the evolution of the college’s website design, please see:
http://www.warren-wilson.edu/~web/design_history.php
http://www.warren-wilson.edu/webmasters.php

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Web Palette