Wisdom & Chaos is a website created and run by a family friend of mine. Whilst he has decided to shut it down later this year, I offered to play around with and update the design, to which he gave his blessing. The site itself is simple and straight to the point, which I stuck to in my own interpretation.

The problem I tried to solve was to improve the layout and visual design, removing large blocks of text and condensing the information in a visually pleasing yet accessible way. There was also a lack of cohesion in and between pages, with the typography and layout. I aimed to strengthen the brand visuals.

  • Original

    The original design focuses solely on information. You immediately see what the site is about, how you can interact and how you can benefit from the service provided. Because of this, it is very plain, and the coloured text is a little jarring to the eyes.

  • Updated

    I kept the original site’s straightforward approach, as I believed it to be a part of the owner’s personal tone and brand. I also opted to keep the same colour scheme, for two reasons. The first, being to remain on brand, and the second, to match the simplistic design of the original. I condensed the information into the COGS buttons, where users could have an interactive and visually interesting way to navigate the site.

  • Original

    The contact page solely serves to display the key methods of contacting the host. Whilst straight to the point once again, it lacks any interesting visual design or any other methods of reaching out.

  • Updated

    I changed the basic visual layout to match the theme of the home page, whilst also adding a card for direct messages users could send from the website. I also added icons, as well as an extra contact method via Linkedin, as that is the main site the owner uses.

This was a very simple redesign project and one I completed quickly. I am pleased with the overall design I made and believe I fleshed out the existing elements of the original to a satisfactory degree. Something I remain sceptical about is the text that rests above the banner image on both the home and contact pages. It seemed like the best location for a header and indeed was the location in the original. However, I felt that the line running through the image in the original, where the text presided, was visually unappealing. Yet at the same time, it was needed with the simple black and white visual style, as without it the text would have been difficult to read. I used a white font with a relatively thick black outline in hopes that it would be clear to see, and to an extent it was, yet I would continue testing with alternative methods if I were to continue.

“I like it a lot. It is simple and very effective with the COGS aspect. Wisdom & Chaos Pure & Simple.”

— Bill Atkinson - Owner of Wisdom & Chaos