Uncovering the Contours
Sculptural storytelling is a dimensional and visceral experience, and The Virginia A. Groot Foundation was seeking a collaborator to help express those stories with a refreshed digital presence. The Virginia A. Groot Foundation is a non-profit organization that offers annual grants to sculptural artists. They engaged ArtVersion to completely transform their one-page website into a dynamic and fluid experience—mirroring the depth of the tactile art form.
Sculpting a New Digital Presence
As the foundation’s legacy continues to grow, the ArtVersion team knew The Virginia A. Groot’s online presence needed to evolve with it. Within the wireframe process, it was decided that a clean, and sleek look and feel would mirror a gallery aesthetic along with developed inner pages that share the foundation’s inspirational story.
Expanding upon the website’s inner pages took on a dynamic approach that included content expansion, video embedding, interactive navigation to view artists and their work, and new page integrations such as media and press release webpages to drive user engagement and strengthen the website's SEO.
Designing a Digital Exhibition
To commemorate the foundation’s legacy of over 30 years, and the winning artists who have submitted their work, it was important to intersperse visual imagery of art pieces. Throughout the pages of the website, ArtVersion optimized and isolated an archive of photography to strategically place them against a white, clean backdrop—which was also a homage to Candice B. Groot’s collection, the foundation’s founder. To celebrate the achievements of grant winners, the development team incorporated a visual and interactive timeline of every winning piece organized by granting year, along with a digitized flip-through book of the foundation’s printed publication Visual Perspectives.
A Breath of Color
Although the website remains authentic to a classic, minimal color scheme, the team integrated The Virginia A. Groot brand color story and utilized its inclusion as a transition between pages. This design choice gave every page new life and dimension for an extra touch of color—with cohesiveness in mind that allowed the imagery and graphical elements to be beautifully contrasted across every webpage. These color and graphical directions were also kept consistent within social media assets to engage potential artists to submit their work for the new granting year.
Centering Brand Assemblage
As The Virginia A. Groot Foundation's website received a complete overhaul, its brand guidelines were also refreshed to align with the new look and feel. ArtVersion’s designers incorporated the new revamped digital assets and elevated the brand story further with content that matched the new website’s tonality.
The updated website ignites new inspiration for artists to submit their art while digitally preserving the life of previous submissions. The collaboration between ArtVersion and Virginia A. Groot wrapped up perfectly at the cusp of the next years grant submissions opening.
