Here are 5 great design school sites to check out and draw inspiration from:
Newmont
Nuemont University utilizes very intelligent color choices to draw your eye to the various links you can follow for more information. The whole site utilizes a well balanced open design to keep things from feeling too structured or rigid- which is important for a university that offers both traditional degrees in computer programming as well as programs focusing on more modern disciplines like web design and game programming.
While the overall layout of their navigation is fluid and intuitive, the site intelligently makes it as easy as possible to request more information and to apply immediately. Including a strong and clear call to action when you make a personal website is important, and is something that is often neglected instead of being highlighted.
Biola
Biola Undergrad features a high energy and colorful collage design. One of the most important elements of all web design involves making your product or brands’ personality immediately clear an unmistakable. While Biola offers easy navigation and plenty of information about what their school has to offer, it none-the-less puts most of its emphasis and visual impact on creating a fun virtual environment to move through. Navigating their website feels more like play than research, and you this is exactly how they want to present getting an education at their school. You should aim to make your web page as clear as theirs.
College of Music
While not a design school, the UNT College of Music utilizes the same principles of being clear about the tone of their institution as Biola. The College of Music’s website obviously presents a different feel than Biola’s (classy, rich and refined over playful) they nonetheless place just as great an emphasis on personality. The College of Music utilizes every element of their design to emphasize this classy feel- from the green and neutrals color scheme to the flow and texture of their heading to the overall clean, uncluttered impression their site gives (largely created by their well organized navigation and large horizontal white bar above the fold). It doesn’t matter what your free website is about, personality needs to be clearly presented.
MICA
MICA’s website design succeeds largely due to the massive emphasis put on showcasing their student’s art every chance they get. It’s one thing for a school to use art to give off a certain feel (like in Biola’s) but it’s another thing for the school to let their student’s work speak for them. The entire website has the look and feel of an individual’s portfolio site more than an educational site.
Making conscious choices about what to feature when you start thinking of your web page design speaks volumes about the priorities of your brand or institution. A site like MICA’s places their priorities on their individual students, as opposed to schools that primarily show off their campus and places the emphasis on the tradition of the institution. Be conscious about what you choose to feature and emphasize on your site, as it will speak volumes about where your priorities lie.
Full Sail University
Full Sail University is a slick, professional design institution and you get that as soon as you land on their site. Once again it’s easy to see where their priorities lie, as their homepage boldly displays numerous examples of the Hollywood productions their graduates have worked on.
In many ways this is the most graphic and multimedia design of these examples. The website’s homepage features a prominent slideshow showcasing graduate work that takes up almost the entire design. In many ways, this site is designed more like a media news site than a traditional educational site, showcasing the ways that you can draw design influences from unrelated fields to showcase your Flash website in new and interesting ways.
