Case Study: A Stellar New Site for Space to Reach

Challenge

Space to Reach is an organization that connects women of color in STEM with companies looking to hire the next generation of innovators. Founded by Fig O’Reilly, Space to Reach values diversity and inclusion as essential to its mission. As an emerging organization, Space to Reach needed a new website that clearly conveyed its mission and visually centered younger generations of women of color. Our Design & Development team got to work, with copyediting support from our Content team, on a fast-paced timeline that got us from meeting the client to launching the website in a month.

Space to Reach’s previous website

Mood board and part of the homepage wireframe for Space to Reach

Establishing an Aesthetic

It was important to the Space to Reach team that the look of their website cater to their main audience: women of color, particularly Millennials and Gen Z, who work in STEM fields.

We conducted visual research and used a mood board to establish an aesthetic that would appeal to this user group. The site’s visual direction combines more playful feminine colors and design elements (most notably, sparkles!) with strong geometric shapes as outlines and background elements. We used a variety of type styles across the site, too, to add to the textured aesthetic, combining a simpler sans serif with a bold italic display font and maintaining cohesion via the consistent use of the bright color palette. Together, these elements gave Space to Reach’s website a unique aesthetic to appeal to their key demographic.

From Wireframes to Development

Every transition from static wireframes to a dynamic, developed, responsive website requires strategy and careful attention to detail, and this one was no exception. With a wide range of typographic styles and the use of floating decorative and background elements, our Design & Development team paid special care to the development of this website to keep it accessible and attractive for all devices.

Space to Reach's About page at desktop, tablet, and mobile browser widths

Integrating an Email Newsletter Subscription Form

As an emerging organization, one of Space to Reach’s main objectives is to grow its following, particularly for its email newsletter.

We integrated Constant Contact, the email marketing software Space to Reach uses, and included a newsletter signup form across the site as well as a pop-up on the homepage directing users to that form. Now, instead of Space to Reach’s team manually adding interested users to a contact list directly in Constant Contact, this integrated signup sends users’ information directly to Space to Reach’s mailing list.

The Job Portal

To help connect women of color in STEM with hiring managers seeking their expertise, Space to Reach needed a place where members could share and apply to jobs.

We created a customized membership platform for Space to Reach where hiring managers can sign up and share available jobs in STEM. Job seekers can apply to become members and gain access to these premium listings for free.

From the Client

We are very excited about our new website! The Online Optimism team did a great job from start to finish on a quickened timeline. Our goal was to create a well designed website for our target audience, and Online Optimism team took our ideas, elevated them, and created a website that reflects the aesthetic we wanted. The final website is bright, energetic, and stylized. Our team also valued the enjoyable work experience with the Online Optimism team which was thorough, responsive, professional, and had great attention to detail. We are happy to have chosen to work with Online Optimism!