FIT's Advertising & Digital Design Senior Show

Website Design

FIT’s graduating Advertising & Digital Design class of 2020 never received a proper showcase for their senior thesis projects due to Covid-19. So, I decided to create a replacement by making a website.

three girls

Project Summary

Problem

Covid-19 canceled FIT's annual Advertising & Digital Design physical senior show. Even though FIT came up with alternatives for us, they weren’t enough.

Solution

Bring the show to a digital platform.

Insight

My classmates want to show to the world what they're proud of.

Duration

6 weeks

Problem

FIT’s Advertising & Digital Design Senior Show was originally planned to start in May…but then Covid-19 happened. The college’s School of Art & Design then came up with an alternative for us: a Graduating Student Exhibition Instagram profile (@fitartdesigngse). However, it came with some issues.

Gray arrow pointing to right

People would have to scroll down quite far for my class' thesis work

There were concerns about a lack of visitors actually looking through the work

Students limited to only three images/videos, all of which had to be cropped at a specific size

Research

interviews

I first asked my classmates for their opinions on the profile. The general consensus seemed to be that they were all not satisfied with the profile.

Image of texts from students who had issues with the instagram page that featured senior students' thesis work
persona

Based on all the responses I received, I created a persona that embodied the average student in my class to help me understand what my classmates need.

Persona representing audience I'm targeting
wireframes

I first asked my classmates for their opinions on the profile. The general consensus seemed to be that they were all not satisfied with the profile.

Design

The website ended up being very simple and straightforward, with details that make the site stand out from the senior shows. For easier searching for recruiters, I organized the students by their disciplines. Click here to view the site!

Background effect in motion
Hover effect
Student page

Results

Since I published the website and made a post about it on LinkedIn, it has been gradually gaining some attention.

Icon representing number of likes
80 reactions
icon representing number of comments
2,200+ views
icon representing number of people that shared
15+ shares

Takeaways

The website was a lot more well-received than I expected it to be. My professors would like to turn this into a tradition for future seniors at FIT, so I'll discuss with them about this soon. However, what made me the most happiest was the positive feedback I received from everyone. I'm glad that I was able to graduate helping my peers.