Founded in 1878, Johns Hopkins University Press (JHUP) is America’s oldest university press. They provide authors with a reputable forum for discourse and exposure to a worldwide audience—publishing over 100 scholarly journals and 200 new books every year, with over 4k books currently in their system.
They approached Mindgrub with a question: Is there a way to create a fresh brand that still fits into the John Hopkins University family, and a modern website to match?
Thankfully, the answer was yes.
The experts at Mindgrub were brought in to update the design and structure of the JHUP website, develop their brand to create a consistent experience, and support their revenue growth.
We started by revamping their brand to change the overall perception of its target audiences, and then moved on to designing a site with the latest check-out functionality and UX best practices.
We began with stakeholder interviews and collaborative workshops. Key decision-makers from JHUP were invited to collaborate, and we went over their target audience’s needs and motivations, as well as how JHUP viewed its brand going forward.
Mindgrub gathered this information, along with competitor analysis, and presented JHUP with an updated brand platform that properly defined its brand persona, attributes, and positioning statement.
Then we focused on updating JHUP’s visual brand—inspired by elements from the Johns Hopkins University parent brand in order to maintain unity. JHUP was presented with multiple style explorations, and at their request some options pushed the envelope, some stayed within the expected lanes, and a few lived in the middle.
Once JHUP selected a visual identity that married their bold new beginning with the stalwart reputation of their institution, the brand truly came to life. All other choices (including voice and tone, color and logo theories, and more) were put together in comprehensive Brand Guidelines. This served as a foundation for their website.
Now that the new brand aesthetic was clear, the site construction could begin. The goal was to provide customers and stakeholders with a seamless experience, augment their revenue growth, and create consistency. Here were the main priorities:
Once all wireframes and designs were approved, development of the site began, and after rigorous quality assurance (QA) to ensure stability, their new site was launched.
