The St. Augustine crest is the brand of the city, and although they did not request a rebrand in the proposal, we felt the crest was in dire need of an update. We knew it would be important to stay true to the history of the crest so we retained the overall shape and content but gave it a new typeface, brighter colors, and better-defined icons. The new crest has a more contemporary look with a fresh appeal for a new generation of St. Augustine residents.
Our strategy for the website focused on two main areas: functionality across multiple platforms and older browsers; and ease of use for residents who may not be well-versed on the internet. To speed load times on all browsers we chose a single homepage image rather than a slide show of multiple images, and combined it with an innovative navigation system: each main navigation area (residents, visitors, businesses, services, administration) has its own set of navigation “quick keys” for the most used pages within the site. With this system, a visitor can access the site from any device and quickly find the information they are looking for without reading through lists of choices or having to click through multiple pull-downs. Instead, they scroll right or left for each nav set and click once to reach the desired page. For added ease of use, each nav set is color-coded with icons that correspond the main nav areas and the color follows through on the secondary pages for cohesive navigation.