Reading Local
Reading Local is a network of websites devoted to promoting local literary communities across the country. The site started off as a humble blog covering the Portland literary scene, and eventually expanded into a completely redesigned, interactive platform.
WIREFRAMING
I prefer to work out concepts on grid paper before taking the digital route. The latter may be less time consuming as well as more forgiving, but as a traditional hands-on designer, I feel it's important to be able to execute initial ideas with rudimentary tools.
BRANDING
Like my wireframing process, branding always begin on paper. The sketch shown on the lower right (the fourth and final logo concept) was realized on the way home from work one rainy evening and captured on the tiny Rhodia pad.
I prefer to work out concepts on grid paper before taking the digital route. The latter may be less time consuming as well as more forgiving, but as a traditional hands-on designer, I feel it's important to be able to execute initial ideas with rudimentary tools.
BRANDING
Like my wireframing process, branding always begin on paper. The sketch shown on the lower right (the fourth and final logo concept) was realized on the way home from work one rainy evening and captured on the tiny Rhodia pad.
FINAL LOGO
The rough sketch was polished in Illustrator and presented to the client. Reading Local is about bringing communities together through reading, and I felt the mark above conveys just that.
LANDING PAGE
The Reading Local platform initially launched in Portland, Oregon, with planned launches in other major cities. To build awareness and anticipation, I designed a landing page with an interactive US Map and callouts to the next three cities in line for launch.
LAUNCHING SOON PAGES
Each city has its own "Launching Soon" page, which includes a gorgeous shot of the city skyline and a live progress bar that lets the public know how close it is to being unlocked (based on the target goal of 500 subscribers).
PORTLAND HOME PAGE
The Reading Local theme was designed to be uniform across each city, with the home page acting as a snapshot of each literary community.
NAVIGATION
Dropdown menus are color-coded to visually distinguish between sections and establish a sense of wayfinding.
EVENTS
Events (as well as Directory listings) are driven entirely by community generated content.
NEWS & FEATURES
Featuring the latest news and features from each category.
CATEGORY PAGE
ARTICLES
