I wanted the design of the Student Reading Series page to appeal to technology-savvy students but also to maintain a classic feel. Because of this I decided to create a simple layout (classic) and then jazz-it up with “cool” colors and a less traditional font.
The image on the main page of the SRS site was created to evoke the imagery of a modern reading or poetry-slam. Although SRS emphasizes more literary readings (not poetry slams), the image provides the idea of a modern makeover to the beat readings of the 1950s and 1960s. I asked my friend Doug to create a rough sketch of a person seated at a microphone reading which another of my friends was able to give a modern-art feel by using PhotoShop options.

The main page is structured with links to other SRS info pages on the left, graphic at the focal point in the middle of the page, and with an announcement bar on the right. I created room for the announcements on the main page because I want first-time visitors to see any imminent news or deadlines first and for returning visitors to not have to look far to find out when the next reading is scheduled.

Each of the links on the left of the main page (About, Events, Broadsides, Contact) lead to single pages of information that retain the same links on the side-bar but lose the announcement column for the sake of creating more space for the information specific to each page. There is also a link on the left-bar for the main page.

Although students and faculty visiting this site can most likely navigate a more complex layout, I decided to keep the design very simple so that the most important part of the page remained in the text, not the graphics or navigation design.