OVERVIEW
A refreshed identity for Northern California's leading film festival.
The Sacramento International Film Festival (SIFF), Northern California's leading film event, needed a refreshed digital presence to better reflect its significance and attract wider participation. I led the complete website revamp end-to-end from research and brand positioning to information architecture, UX/UI design, and visual identity creating a cohesive platform that communicates the festival's vision and community.
RESEARCH
Identifying what engages users and what doesn't
I conducted visual research first to gather insights about the target audiences, and experience. It includes collecting and analyzing imageries that can inspire or help finding pain points. This research helps me analyze how users interact with a website, and identify what isn't working in the current site and why a design necessary.
The top banner features Sacramento landmarks, but their small size and low visibility weaken the visual connection to the city and lessen the design's local impact.
The website's color scheme lacks contrast and consistency, resulting in poor visual hierarchy and reduced readability.
The website's inconsistent font sizing weakens typographic hierarchy, making it difficult for users to distinguish content structure.
DEFINE
SIFF's outdated website limits access and engagement, weakening its mission.
The Sacramento International Film Festival (SIFF) plays a crucial role in promoting independent film. However, the original website fails to support this mission. Users who are both filmmakers and attendees often experience difficulty navigating the site, locating important information such as submission information, and event schedules. The outdated layout and lack of clear calls to-action result in low engagement and missed opportunities for participation. A redesign is necessary to create more engaging and accessible for everyone. It should also better show the festival's creative and professional image, and help users take important actions.
Key pain points: Navigation, Layout, and Engagement.
Based on the research findings, I developed a requirements document that organized insights by priority and defined three main challenges.
Identifying weakness through competitive analysis.
To better understand current industry standards, I analyzed two global film festivals which are Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), and the Sundance Film Festival.
The TIFF website helps address SIFF's lack of visual engagement by showing how bold design, clear calls to action, and interactive features can make the site more appealing and easier to use.
The Sundance website gives helpful ideas to fix problems in the SIFF site, like unclear branding and poor accessibility, by showing how a clean layout and inclusive design can improve the user experience.
IDEATE
Clear information architecture for easy navigation.
I created the information architecture to organize the SIFF website into clear sections, ensuring simple navigation while supporting key tasks such as film submissions, event schedules, and filmmaker discovery.
Visual direction
The new logo was designed to connect with personas I focused on in the research while preserving the identify of Sacramento as the host city. To reflect this connection, I kept the purple color, which is often associated with Sacramento, giving the brand a strong sense of place. The neon theme was chosen to evoke the energy of celebration.
FINAL PROTOTYPE
Redesigning 01: Homepage
I simplified the header by highlighting core actions while keeping navigation on the top. The navigation is better organized, creating a cleaner, and support resources remain easily accessible.
To emphasize the importance of the event and the film submission process, I placed both at the top of the homepage, making them immediately visible when users land on the website.
To support clarity and usability, I applied strong visual hierarchy placing primary actions at the top of the page with clear buttons, making them stand out and easy to find at a glance.
Redesigning 02: The event page
I reduced the number of images and organized them to create more focused layout that guides users through the page naturally.
The event date was resized and repositioned to appear more prominently, making sure that users can quickly notice the important details without having to search for it.
Redesigning 03: The submission page
I created a dedicated submission page keeping all the necessary steps on one website.
A prominent "Submit" button is placed on the homepage and throughout the website to ensure users can easily access the submission process at any point.
I added two ways for users to start submitting their film. One button is placed just above the navigation bar on the right side, using a white background to help it stand out. The second button is right below the main image, with bold text and matching colors so users naturally notice it as users scroll.
REFLECTION
Key takeaways
User-Centered Structure
Designed the IA around two primary personas prioritizing actions like film submission and event schedules in the navigation.
Comparative Insights
By analyzing global festivals like Sundance and TIFF, I identified stronger patterns in layout, CTAs, and filtering that guided improvements.
Brand Alignment
Structured content to reflect SIFF's identity as a regional festival with informational reach, balancing accessibility and professionalism.
