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The Art Students League (the League) is the oldest art institution in the US. Opening their doors in 1875, this Atelier style institution has been a major force in shaping American art and been home to artists like Georgia O’Keeffe, Jackson Pollock, Mark Rothko, Louise Nevelson, Ai Weiwei, and James Little.
Our journey with The Art Students League of New York began in 2022 when they decided to migrate their outdated WordPress site to WebFlow. The original site, text-heavy and lacking visual appeal, didn't embody the vibrant creativity of an art school. As ASL approached their 150th anniversary, they recognized the need for a brand revitalization.
By 2023, they partnered with Greater to reimagine their identity, and in 2024, we launched a refreshed brand with new messaging, a modern logo system, an updated color palette, typography, and, of course, a new website.
One of our big challenges with this project was understanding the institution's key audiences and rebuilding the site's information architecture to suit their needs. We needed to make sense of the hundreds of outdated pages and broken links accumulated over the past three decades and streamline the many legacy pages and objectives into one localized site.
One example was working closely with the League's team to determine how to consolidate three separate blogs, previously curated on different platforms, into the new website. Though it was a challenging decision, it led to the creation of a new section called "Stories." This not only boosted the site's SEO but also provided a unified space for students, aspiring artists, and faculty to explore and engage with ASL’s content.
We also designed a CMS-powered navigation, making it simple for the League's team to update the navigation and sub-navigation with featured elements, highlight key events and exhibitions, and making sure the site remains as dynamic as the institution itself.
Another standout feature was the CMS-powered digital exhibition experience. With a single click, users can now enjoy an immersive gallery-like experience, evolving from a basic and less appealing version of the in-person exhibition setup to a digital immersive experience that surely encourages curators.
One of the key drivers for this site redesign was to translate the new visual identity into the League's digital experience. Our objective was to not only modernize their site, but provide a digital presence that matched the grandeur of the institution.
Some ways we signaled an aspirational and professional appearance through the design was by making use of brand elements like high-contrast font scaling, large-format imagery, and thoughtful use of negative space.
The site was designed as a canvas site, with lots of white space to elevate the brand and to allow for the imagery to shine and copy to breathe. We incorporated the vibrant cobalt in the new color palette sparingly within headers, buttons, hover effects, and branded moments like the site loader. The dark navy was used in full bleed moments of focus like the digital experience, the navigation, or key callouts throughout the site.
A beautifully designed site is nothing without great visuals. We believe this is even more true for an art school, where the imagery should reflect the atelier style of education and champion the artists who walk through the doors of the institution. With a clear vision, we set forth to capture photography and videos of students and teachers at work, the light-filled studio spaces, and the creative process of studying at the League. These photographs and videos were showcased throughout the site, elevating the experience even further.
Additional design choices that elevated the site further included interaction design; scrolling, loading, and hover animations were added on a component and page level. Glass and blur effects that simulate the experience of looking through a gallery window were added to interactions, or experiences like the digital gallery. Small design elements like scribbled handwritten notes in the margins of assets add a tactile, analog feel reminiscent of an artist's sketchbook to the digital environment. These details honored the hands-on nature of art education while enhancing the site's digital presence.
The new and polished website for ASL achieved a balance between artistry and an elevated style. It captures a modern aesthetic while preserving the League's rich heritage and features a cleaner experience for both users and administrators.
Greater is an indispensable partner to our internal marketing team. We’re a unique institution, and it’s important that we work with partners who understand us. Greater has provided the strategic insights we need to succeed in an evolved digital landscape. Their streamlined approach to creative has helped us refine and implement new brand standards seamlessly, and their understanding of organizational structure and strategy has been invaluable in crafting our consumer-facing digital experiences. When we face tight deadlines or big sprints internally, the Greater team is right there with us. It’s a relief to know we can count on them to be as timely, focused, and efficient as we need them to be.
