Background
While working on the website recovery of my family’s ancestry website, I was able to utilize my design skills to create a modern brand identity for the website, and any additional materials we might need going forward. I had a few small ideas, and while working on them, they organically grew to fit together in one cohesive design.
Colors of Nature
My goal with the colors was to reference back to trees and nature, but in a modern and calm manner. The original website was mostly green, and when I redesigned it in 2015, I chose to switch to more brown and greyscale colors. My hope was that the new design could be a connection between the two previous versions.
As one of my goals was to better utilize and showcase the older photos and documents, which are often brown, beige, or even yellowish, I decided to create a palette that would include green (referring back to the original website and nature), combined with beige tones to create cohesion with the images. This also gives a nod back to brown, as another reference to trees.
After some experimentation with Adobe’s color tools, I settled on the following palette.
#2E8B57
#F5F5F5
#F8F9FA
#1F6D42
#47A76A
#E1F3E5
#333333
#555555
The Roots
As I applied the colors to the website, I felt that the design was missing something warm, and possibly something identifiable to reference back to the tree. I experimented with the idea of adding very subtle illustrations of roots in the background of the website.
The Tree
The website never had a distinct logo, so I decided it was time to create one. In keeping with the idea of modernity and calmness, I opted for a simple yet modern logo. A logo that would have a recognizable icon, suitable for reuse on other materials such as favicons and avatars.
Reflections
This project brings me such joy. I had a few small ideas that came together seamlessly, and I am very proud of the results. My family is very important to me, and being able to utilize my skills to contribute to this work has been very satisfying.
