Lyuk Media — website design and functionality update

Lyuk Media is an independent Kharkiv-based online publication for progressive and creative young people interested in the city's cultural news. You won't see any advertising or jaundiced headlines on the site. Only interesting stories and news are written by editors or readers. The online media site needed to be updated and add certain functionalities, which is why our clients contacted us.

Client

Lyuk Media introduces Kharkiv residents to the culture of their city, covers urban processes and problems, and stimulates changes in society by bringing together creative and caring young people in one space. This publication writes about architecture, art, corruption and raises important social issues that arise in this changing world.

The editors found us through their media partners, who recommended Solar Digital as a creative IT team with unconventional approaches to solving problems. That’s how we started working together.

Task

The media editors approached us with the following tasks:

• redesign the website to emphasize its authenticity and independence in the online space
• add new functionality for WordPress — the ability to change the design of the home page, upload and customize banners on the site, etc.
  

Thus, Solar Digital had to update the design and add useful features without unnecessary overload, so that the admin panel remained simple and convenient for the editorial staff.

Process

After a short brief with the editorial team, we got to work. In the process of updating the design, we changed fonts, developed new icons, and added a youthful vibe. If you visit the media outlet’s website, you will immediately notice that all the banners are made in a meme-graphic style, which also distinguishes Lyuk from similar publications.

The editorial team wanted to add new sections to the site — “News” and “Announcements” — and also wanted to make the main page flexible, without being tied to a specific template. Our WordPress developer helped to implement this, so that customers could swap blocks as they wished. He also made the process of uploading and configuring banners on the site convenient.

Our work was approved from the first iteration, which means that we did everything the way the clients wanted.

Result

In 1,5 months of cooperation, the Solar Digital:

• updated the website design, adding creativity, graphic elements/icons, replaced fonts
• improved the UI/UX design of the website for the mobile version
• made the settings of each banner on the site flexible
• added 2 new sections — “News” and “Announcements”
• made the main page of the site in the format of a constructor with the ability to flexibly change its blocks and design
  

A project manager, a UI designer, and a WordPress developer worked on the project. The client was impressed with our work and the fact that we met the promised deadlines.