Yale School of Architecture

Screenshot of the top of the school's website on desktop, showing hands working on a building model, the top menu options, and calls to action to "Apply" and "Courses"

The homepage opens with a video reel of recent student activity, and important calls to action.

Screenshot of the top of the school's website on desktop, with featuring an image of a colorful line-art illustration

Screenshot of the website's "mega-menu" open on desktop

The “mega menu” organizes the site into a coherent plan.

Screenshot of the website's large search input field being used to search for "Climate change"

Search is prominent and easy to use.

Screenshot of the "on this page" options at the top of the "M Arch 1" page

“On this page” navigation helps make sense of complex processes and programs.

Screenshot of the sibling page navigation at the top of the "M Arch 1" page

Wayfinding-like contextual signposts help users move among sibling pages.

The homepage uses a diagram of the building’s section as one gateway to its academic programs, and includes an interactive map of Yale’s interconnected arts campus.

Drawing inspiration from the iconic orange carpet inside the school’s historic building, we designed a persistent menu that is also a visual foundation for each page.

The site is visually in sync with semesters, taking cues from the changing palette of the school’s popular lecture posters.

An area of the site called “the pit” is modeled after the open pinup and critique area in the center of the school’s atrium. It aggregates all the images from the entire website, from student work to travel documentation to faculty photos. Each are linked back to its original context, providing a whole new way to explore the site.

Screenshot from the homepage with links to each program organized by the section plan of the building

Screenshot of the "Images" area of the website, with images filterable by tag

Screenshot of an individual student work on the website

Screenshot of the yellow calendar page of the website, with a purple duotone image of a featured event

Screenshot of an individual event page on the website, with yellow text on a black background a color image of the featured speaker

Screenshot of a page on the website featuring thumbnails the school's seasonal event posters

Deborah Berke, the school’s dean, said: “The design of our new website feels true to the spirit of the school – a collaborative meeting of design and engagement, history and innovation. It used to be the least nimble of our communication channels and now it can drive our entire digital communication strategy.”