education Archives - Brown Bear Creative

My House Rabbit Responsive Website Reboot

Role: Web Designer / Web Developer

My House Rabbit, an educational website providing tips on pet rabbit care and behavior, got an under-the-hood makeover. While the look of the desktop version of the site looks fairly similar to the previous version, the site was completely redeveloped by Brown Bear Creative.

The new site runs on the WordPress platform. This means all the content is maintained via an easy-to-use online admin panel. Adding new articles and photos is a quick, streamlined process. Because all the content is housed in a database, a new search function at the top of every page allows visitors to access any information in the site in an efficient manner.

In addition, the new site has a responsive design. A responsive design allows the website’s layout to adjust to different screen sizes. In this way, visitors using smart phones or tablets see a version of the site optimized for that specific size. Everything is still accessible to those visitors, but they don’t have to zoom in or do any side scrolling to access the information. The text is already readable when they load the site.

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Animal Fact Guide Website Redesign

Role: Web Designer / Web Developer / Illustrator

Awards: American Library Association Great Website for Kids

Animal Fact Guide, an educational website about animals, had expanded its offerings since its launch in 2008. Brown Bear Creative revamped the site by giving it a modern facelift and streamlining user experience.

The new site carries forward the fun feel of the original website, retaining the cute animal illustrations and bright color palette. But the new layout has a more open, less “boxed-in” design. Sleek details like gradients, drop shadows, and rounded corners were coded using the latest technology (HTML5 and CSS3) to enhance the design on modern browsers.

Using an approach called responsive web design, the site gracefully accommodates a wide ranges of screen sizes. This translates to an improved experience on tablets and smart phones.

Several improvements were made to how the site functions on both the front and back end. Brown Bear added a better search feature so visitors can easily locate animal fact articles, blog posts, and printable activity sheets. The site is also completely search-engine optimized, coming up on the first page of Google for keywords like “animal facts.” On the back end, the whole site is powered by WordPress, which simplifies the process of adding articles and blog posts.

The site was recognized by the American Library Association as a Great Web Site for Kids. According to Karen Lemmons, co-chair of the Great Web Sites for Kids committee, “Great Web Sites for Kids are those considered the best web sites for ages birth to 14, outstanding in both content and conception.”

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Blue Hills Regional Technical School Website

Role: Web Designer / Web Developer

Blue Hills Regional Technical School, a vocational high school located in Canton, MA, was in need of a website that not only highlighted the wide range of shop programs they had to offer but one that showcased student and faculty pride.

Brown Bear Creative designed and developed a WordPress-powered website that captures prospective students’ interest while providing a comprehensive resource for current students, parents, and staff. Staying true to the Blue Hills Warrior colors, Brown Bear used a strong blue and green palette in the design. The site incorporates vivid photos and graphics to help reflect the wonderful sense of community at the school.

To ensure visitors can easily access information and documents, the site is laid out in an intuitive manner. A navigation menu with dropdowns at the top of every page provides a consistent source for page links throughout the site. A list of “Quick Links” located on the sidebar of every page makes popular links immediately accessible. Visitors can also use a search form at the top of the site to look for keywords.

As Blue Hills is a technical school, it was especially important to showcase its various vocational programs. Each shop has its own dedicated page that describes the program and features a slideshow of images of the facilities and students in action.

Using WordPress’s password-protected admin panel, Blue Hills staff have the ability to easily add school news and documents as well as edit the text and images on every page of the website. This capability allows them to keep parents and students up to date on school happenings.

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One Book, Every Young Child Logo and Website

Twelve libraries in southeastern Connecticut came together to organize a program that encourages parents and caregivers to read early and often to their preschool children. “One Book, Every Young Child” features a series of events that focuses around one picture book every year.

Using bold, bright colors, Brown Bear Creative designed the logo and website for the program. The website showcases the book of the year, incorporating the storybook’s illustrations into the design. Powered on the WordPress platform, the site can be easily updated using an intuitive, browser-based admin panel. A site administrator can edit any page of the site, including the homepage, news, and calendar.

Medford Public Schools Website

Role: Web Designer / Web Developer

Medford Public Schools in Massachusetts was in need of a comprehensive website that housed information and news not only for the district but for each of their nine schools as well. Brown Bear provided a robust content-managed solution powered by WordPress that teachers and other staff could update themselves.

The website features a clean, intuitive design with a blue and gray color scheme based on Medford’s school colors. The homepage and each school landing page highlight latest news, administrator contact details, and other essential information.

All the content, including pages, news posts, and sidebar data, on the site is editable via WordPress’s easy-to-use administration panel. Site editors can also upload photos, videos, and documents and place them throughout the site.

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