Web Visual Identity

The Web Governance Council has tasked an Web Visual Identity Working Group with evaluating the current state of the University’s many web brand identity systems, and outlining opportunities to develop consistent standards, guidelines, and resources for a core visual identity system.

A student using his laptop in a University library

What is visual identity?

An organization’s web presence is often the most visible expression of its core brand. For websites, visual identity refers to a collection of elements—such as logos, colors, typography, patterns, and interactions—that work together to create a cohesive and consistent experience for people who visit an organization’s website.

Why does visual identity matter?

The University of Rochester is a complex organization with many schools, units, divisions, and offices. That complexity is reflected in the University’s web presence, which is a vast network of websites and online applications with varying visual identities managed by more than a dozen teams.

For the people who visit the University’s online presence, that complexity has the potential to create barriers to searching, navigating, or completing a task. Establishing shared standards and guidelines for how to apply the University’s online visual identity systems can help digital teams eliminate those barriers, creating a better experience for website users.

Web Visual Identity Working Group

The Web Governance Council established the Visual Identity Working Group in December 2022 to analyze the current state of web visual identities across the University of Rochester web presence and make recommendations for how to improve the user experience by establishing standards, guidelines, and resources for a core visual identity system. The group plans to deliver findings and recommendations to the Web Governance Council by June 2023.

goals of the working group

Analyzing the University’s current state

Document and analyze current state by developing an inventory of websites to review and a rubric for conducting a heuristic evaluation of visual identity systems.
Develop and conduct a survey of digital teams to identify concerns, pain points, barriers to adopting and implementing core standards, and to identify areas of agreement and alignment.

Developing a report

Summarizing recommendations and findings from a research review and benchmarking (as needed) effort.
Describing the risks and rewards of establishing and implementing institutional web visual identity in terms of benefits to the institution, digital teams, and users.
Delivery of a report to the Web Governance Council.

Creating guidelines and implementation plans

Draft guidelines for University Web Visual Identity based on research and input.
Develop an implementation guide and identify tool kits and resources needed to adopt the new standards for public–facing websites.
All deliverables will be reviewed and voted on by the Web Governance Council.

roles and responsibilities

Co–chairs: Stephanie Minns, project director and designer, University of Rochester Medical Center; Phil Sennett, director of digital services, University Marketing and Communications
Advisors: Jenny Leonard, AVP for digital strategy, University Marketing and Communications; Wade Holdraker, AVP for web services, Medical Center
Secretary: To be recruited
Project manager: To be recruited
Working group members: Selected from areas of the University, working group members are responsible for assisting in the execution of the deliverables. In addition, each working group member will act as liaison between the working group and stakeholders within their organization.

If you have ideas, questions, or feedback as it relates to web visual identity, contact us using our submission form. We’re grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with the University community.

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