Allvit: a Platform for Digital Academic Books
What is the best way to help students find books related to their area of study?
Project Brief
Allvit is a Norwegian platform for digital academic text books. They help students find books related to their area of study, and offer a subscription service that is cheaper than buying all the textbooks a student might need. Allvit wanted to update their visual identity and redesign their site with students in mind.
View WebsiteObjectives
Visual Identity
Determine the overall look and direction of Allvit's branding
Responsive Design
Design for both desktop and mobile to create a seamless experience
Pattern Library
Build a pattern library to create consistency and a unified design language
Creating a Playful and Engaging Brand
Since shopping for college textbooks can sometimes be stressful and expensive for students, Allvit felt it was important that their website felt friendly, playful, intuitive, and easy to use.
A big part of Allvit’s re-branding effort was to put customers at ease and create an emotional connection. In order to engage users, they also wanted to create fun and memorable experiences throughout their site.
Deciding What to Read Next is Difficult
Finding interesting books can feel overwhelming as there are countless books to choose from, and so many different ways to discover new books.
Categorizing Books Is Time-Consuming
Everyone organizes their books differently, and many who do so feel that categorizing books takes up too much of their time and effort.
In order to create a strong and memorable brand, we asked Crystallize’s illustrator Gina Kirlew to create custom illustrations for Allvit to use. Having custom illustrations would set Allvit apart from their competition and also help create a more friendly tone throughout the site.
We also stuck to a limited color palette of yellow, purple, and neutral grays. The yellows and purples are used sparingly throughout the site to add bright pops of colors, while the neutrals are used to create balance and visual hierarchy via white space, typography, and many other UI elements.
Mapping out the user journey
Once we had our new brand identity defined, the next step was to map out different parts of the user journey in our designs. From looking up schools and curriculums, to looking at individual book product pages, to checking out and even reading digital copies of books through Allvit’s platform.
Designing for Responsive
No matter how large or small the devices Allvit’s users are on, we felt it was essential to create a quality user experience. In order to do this, we took a mobile-first approach when designing to create a content-first experience.
Creating a Pattern Library
Because we completely redesigned Allvit’s site and changed their branded, it made sense to create a pattern library. We took all of the smaller pieces that were the building blocks of the site and compiled them all into a single place which became our library. The benefits to doing this meant saving Allvit’s designers & developers time in the future, and keeping their website and their branding consistent.
Lessons Learned
My biggest takeaway from this project was learning how to understand where the intersection between conversion and creativity meets. I’m grateful to have gotten a chance to work with Allvit’s team while exploring different ways to showcase their product and still sell without a cookie cutter layout.
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