Cradle Indy is on a mission to reduce infant mortality in Marion County, Indiana. Williams Randall first partnered with them on a pro bono project during their first year as a nonprofit, during which we created a logo, talking points, a slide deck template, and a brand style. A year later, we were thrilled to partner with Cradle Indy for a second time on the strategy, design, and initial content for their first-ever website.
Baby brands are often associated with light or pastel colors. While some of Cradle Indy’s brand colors would fit this description, we took an unexpected approach with the website by going with navy for the background color. Branding-wise, the site’s content is on a serious subject matter so, the darker navy tones also relate to the messaging.
This background works for a few reasons. The other brand colors (light blue, yellow, and purple) pass color contrast ratios for accessibility on a darker background, while they wouldn’t with a traditional white background. Williams Randall prioritizes at least meeting the AA level, if not AAA level, of color contrast for accessibility standards across all websites we design.
We are constantly checking our contrast levels while designing sites. In areas of the site that feature more complex information or functionality, we opted for lighter backgrounds to ensure the information is still easy to read and the user experience maintained.
In addition to establishing a distinctive online presence, Cradle Indy’s website needed to accomplish two major goals, both focused on creating connections:
As a relatively new organization, Cradle Indy's primary goal at the moment is to bring together partners working towards the common goal of reducing infant mortality in Marion County, Indiana using a collective framework. To help meet this goal, we created a "Resource Finder" tool to enable organizations providing different services to find each other. For example, if an organization that helps people with housing comes across an individual who needs access to diapers, they could search using the Resource Finder to find a local organization that provides diapers and connect that individual with them. Or, if an organization usually has diapers on hand but is running low on donations, they could contact another local organization from the Resource Finder to share supplies and better help Marion County families. The blog section, dubbed "The Information Exchange," provides updates and information about Cradle Indy’s work and encourages other organizations to contribute and share their updates.
In addition to connecting organizations, the site would also need to contain educational content and resources more appropriate for the general public who might find the site through organic search while looking for assistance. To serve the needs of this audience, we developed a series of detailed, content-rich pages designed to provide tips and information to help parents navigate planning a family, pregnancy, care for baby, and more. (The pages also help with attracting SEO attention for this important topic.) Families looking for information can peruse guides on a variety of topics such as safe sleep and preventing preterm birth.
Additionally, due to the site being smaller and so content-driven, we chose to expose the site's navigation rather than rely on dropdowns. This choice increases scannability and findability, allowing site visitors to find the information they’re looking for quickly.
The project is currently in the programming phase with Cradle Indy’s current lead sponsor, IU Health, but the client is thrilled with the designs. Since the founding of our agency, we’ve been dedicated to “giving advertising a good name,” so we were honored to work on this project and play a small part in helping reduce infant mortality in Marion County as a result.
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