Researching for brain surgery is wise. Equally important is researching for a website design project – says I. Both involve mind-y folks but only one is fun while the other involves tying knots and fingers getting sticky.
Research for the new Sustainable Stanford website (for me) was the fun kind with clean hands. Since 2013 openbox9 has provided solutions for Stanford University and knows them well, however this research involved auditing what other universities are doing in the sustainable quest. Behold, five websites with brainy ideas from my research.
Harvard University
I know… trust me, I did not want to include a school that often gets praised and written about, but here I am. The whole Harvard website ecosystem is an unexpected positive experience. Lookie lookie who’s breaking from their ol’ stuffy image. Their design shifts away from traditional college layouts, copy, and imagery. Modestly pivoting from the parent website, Harvard’s sustainability not-like-the-others website approach is on-brand. My one knock is how the building imagery comes across as cold, conveying a tone that sustainability solutions are about materials and not people.
Penn
Penn, like Harvy above, is also a well-aged institution that surprised me with a desire to not… well… look aged. Funny how younger universities want to look old like Penn, and Penn wants to look young like them (that’s a parenting blog for another time). What works is the warm invitation to participate in the work of sustainability. Working together, the imagery and messaging say: we are all in it together and we got this. Now, the homepage is a bit overdone and would be more engaging with fewer callouts and content screaming for attention. We get it, you’re young and loud. Benjamin Franklin would be proud.
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto ranks high in many lists of schools doing sustainability well through innovation and programs. They must be so busy doing well that they don’t have time to build a website well… well we all can empathize with that. They make this list for kicking green butts with their innovative work, and we all await a new site to help them share and inspire.
John Hopkins University
When I have time, I enjoy a casual walk through a homepage. JHU’s linear presentation style has the experience of being in a dark cool lecture hall. While that experience can put me to sleep, not so here. Hopkins does a nice job of providing readers points to jump from the homepage into topics they’re interested in while taking them on a stroll… I was engaged and encouraged during my wanderings. (Full disclaimer, John’s Hopkins is our client but we are not involved with their sustainability website)
Arizona State University
Sometimes it’s best to stand out from the crowd of college sustainability websites. Going bold with color and graphics instead of blueish and greenish heavy on photography works in this herd of climate friends. While this site focuses on their goals, it wakes you up in a way other sites do not. (much like my beloved alma mater Ball State University sustainability – so much cardinal red!)
… of course my favorite favorite sustainability website is the University of California’s… a website openbox9 created and continues improving upon for five years and counting. Stay tuned for the new Sustainable Stanford site from openbox9 in the Spring of 2025.
We would love to work on your college’s website – please shout out and we’ll talk it over.
