When Eastern Standard designed and developed a digital 2016 Annual Review for the Philadelphia-based University City Science Center (UCSC), the organization was at a unique inflection point in its 53-year history.
The prior year had been marked by significant growth and expanded initiatives, including the development of uCity Square, a massive 4-million-square-foot mixed-use community development featuring lab and office space that connects University City to its surrounding neighborhoods. As a result, UCSC was looking for an online tool that would communicate their current successes and highlight their potential for the future in a way that complemented their existing brand, yet felt unique enough to differentiate the year's message and Annual Report's identity.
To that end, we created a website that is organized into two streamlined sections — Year in Review and About — featuring intuitive user experience (UX) design that allows viewers to dive in immediately and walk through the content focused on either UCSC's significant accomplishments or the impressive people, organizations, and numbers behind them. Throughout the site, users are given a clear path to follow to learn more, encouraging them to explore intuitively without getting lost. The design features strong imagery from UCSC, complemented by a clean and bold aesthetic that aligns with their existing branding, punctuated with subtle animation effects.
As UCSC reached the end of another year marked by exponential growth, we continued their narrative with the creation of a web-based 2017 Annual Review, this time shifting the focus to the people behind the innovations. We highlighted the personal stories of UCSC's thinkers, doers, and entrepreneurs with a heavily editorial-driven site — weaving in powerful imagery along with the organization's new "We Are All Scientists" brand message throughout.
In order to help UCSC announce the launch of each Annual Review, we helped to create supporting promotional tools, including a direct mailer. Working in tandem, these elements allow our client to effectively promote their ongoing story of expansion and achievement.
