January 27, 2010

Sneak PEAC at template variation

Update: PEAC’s website on LiveWhale launched today with only a few hitches which were quickly fixed. Onward! When the Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center (PEAC) switched from Trillium to LiveWhale, they realized they would lose some of their unique identity in the process. They weren’t the only ones. The Center for Animal Law Studies (CALS) and National Crime Victim Law Institute (NCVLI) also felt the sting of sameness as a result of the move. …

By Lawrence Siulagi

 


Update: PEAC’s website on LiveWhale launched today with only a few hitches which were quickly fixed. Onward!

When the Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center (PEAC) switched from Trillium to LiveWhale, they realized they would lose some of their unique identity in the process.

They weren’t the only ones. The Center for Animal Law Studies (CALS) and National Crime Victim Law Institute (NCVLI) also felt the sting of sameness as a result of the move.

The problem: how to deviate from the template without losing identity while utilizing the wonderful tools LiveWhale has to offer?

The solution is still a work in progress and in the 11th hour only one thing is certain: each case will be considered on an individual basis. That, and basic structures of the template will remain: right-side navigation, L&C identity in the footer, Search bar in the upper right.

What’s in question are a few meta-design issues which parts of the template, at least from a web designer’s view, look naked when standing next to the other pages. For example. the top navigational bar, when removed and without a visual anchor, can look bald and somewhat bland for sub-templated pages.

All said, here is a sneak peek at PEAC’s templates.

Oh, and another certainty. Once the template goes live, you can bet this post will be updated.