Abolitionista!
Abolitionista! is a series of comic books that talk about human trafficking. The author, Thomas Estler, has published in United Nations and New York Comic-Con. To redesign a website for a comic book series for a good cause is both surreal and amazing!
Objectives
- Improve overall aesthetic and user experience and to make the site more engaging.
- Improve site architecture and navigation to enable easier browsing.
- Design an informative, eye-catching website to attract future sponsors and readers.
- Create a responsive website for mobile and ipad.
Story
The author, Thomas, came to me for a website redesign. He had built one prior in Wix but he quoted that his design skills are limited and needed outside help. My role was to design the website, create the architecture information, prototype, and develop the website.
I worked in a team of 4 people where I was the UX designer, along with another designer, a computer science tech, and the person that collected and provided us with all the content.
Phase 1
Prototyping
The purpose of this site was to inform the viewers of what abolitionism means, ways to make the audience aware of human trafficking, and finally, find and read the comic books created by the founder of Abolitionista!.
The approach was focused on reorganizing and simplifying their site structure to highlight their mission, values, and outcomes. The objective was to create a clean, clear design that let their story connect and drive conversions. We created a new, user-driven content strategy to support their refreshed content.
Menu information architecture
Homepage design
Phase 2
Style Concepts
Tufts University has branding that I and my team needed to follow. My role was to use the web design as an opportunity to help the CREATE Solutions group create a much more engaging visual experience.
The Homepage features clean banner iconography, dynamic images, brief about this initiative, and highlights. On hover, menu items change color to a lighter color providing visual confirmation of the intended path and subtle forward motion.
Target Audience mockup
Picture credit: Free Pic
The website design is a communicating road to bring awareness to global climate change, based on research of the Tufts University faculty and researchers. Navigating through the site is easy, intended to bring the viewer where they want to go as soon as possible without complications. The pages are short, filled with the most important information. This leads to viewers reading full information on each page and saving visitors time.
What an exciting experience to have Eriola Kapaj take our series of comic books and turn them into a website that looked like a playground for comic book lovers. We had a tricky brief…our market is children, and we needed to carve out a unique identity with our manga comic book series and harmonize it with our mission to educate children about human trafficking. It’s a difficult balance to strike, in fact, nothing could prepare any designer for creating a website with such a singular identity. But Eriola took on our project with passion and commitment. She presented us with many fantastic ideas. She eagerly took all our notes and stuck with the project until we were completely satisfied. She delivered a children’s website that showcased our comic books and fulfilled our mission of awareness all on a platform the radiates a kind of magic that we were not expecting but is beyond perfect for who we are.
Thank you, Eriola for this fantastic website. We could not have found a more extraordinary designer.
From the very beginning, Eriola brought upbeat, contagious energy to the project. She was welcoming to new team members, and her optimism was a motivator to all. With Abolitionista, Eriola made every element of the website accessible. From the text to the layouts and beyond, everything on the website was user-friendly. At the same time, Eriola was open to leaving her comfort zone to accommodate our requests, such as requests for bright, contradicting color palettes. She vocalized her thoughts and was free with suggestions, but Eriola met (and exceeded) all of our requests. Furthermore, she committed to this pro bono work for nearly one year. At times, we at Saving Jane had to step back from the website redesign due to other project commitments. Nevertheless, Eriola stayed with the project to the very end. Her commitment meant a great deal to us and speaks highly of her professionalism and character.
I highly recommend Eriola Kapaj as a web designer. She is an invaluable asset to any team she is a part of, and she sees every project to completion.
Rachel Davis
Comics Editor
Saving Jane
