Lantera Labs
Project Overview
Through working directly with the client, I originally designed a Sketch.io rendering of a new corporate website for the start-up non-profit Lantera Labs which focuses on tech education for under represented populations. This site design needed to allow prospective students to learn about the company and sign-up for classes while also providing a space for clients seeking consulting to contact the organizers.
Through revisiting this project, we also found the need to re-establish the principle design elements included in the organizations brand guidelines.
Project Duration:
February 2019 (initial)
August 2020 (revisited)
My Role:
Lead Designer
Additional Team Members:
Copy Provided by: Emilie von Unwerth
Illustrations by: Marleigh Culver
Project Platform:
Wix
Responsibilities:
Wireframing, High Fidelity Design
User Research: Pain Points
Confusion: With two brands under the same banner, we needed a clear way to delineate the consulting and the education arms of the business.
Gatekeeping: The inaccessibility of tech literacy is something that the organization is working against, and so the design had to serve this function as well.
Distrust: With paid-for-profit institutions, Lantera needed a way to differentiate themselves to their target audience and come across as subject matter experts.
Takeaways
Impact: Because of our work, the brand was able to continue its growth and build more equity within the community. Unfortunately, due largely to the global pandemic, Lantera has chosen to put a pause on their work until they can return to in-person teaching.
What I learned: Building a brand and a tone for an organization that focuses both on the hyper tech literate (consulting) and marginalized folks that may not be as familiar with the same types of pattern recognition (education) was fascinating! Through the use of plain text and color/tonal shifts, I think we were able to bring forward the personality of the Lantera founder as well as the joy that this education can bring!
