Allen & Overy Graduate

Website Design

September 2008

Allen & Overy Graduate 2008

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Allen & Overy Graduate


Brief: Create an award winning website that differentiates A&O from any other law firm, and give future recruits a real sense of the firm’s values. The over-arching concept of 'Start at the Top' should be integral to any approach.

Overview: The main design challenge was to differentiate A&O in the Law graduate recruitment arena whilst keeping the designs fresh and dynamic – but also still in touch with the overarching A&O brand. A sumptuous, dark rich red palette was chosen, which echoed the corporate elegance of the offline brand, and was developped to great effect during the three design iterations. Art direction further included high quality photography, which provided visual focus and reflected the qualities of a 'Magic Circle' law firm - from the contemporary surroundings, to the A&O personnel themselves. The imagery, navigational interface iconography and general graphic layout was given a contemporary feel and use was made of gradients, shadows and highlights to give the final layouts, depth, interest and overall clarity. At entry points the design, imagery and layouts are very prominent, whilst at detail level the designs are more background and the emphasis is on information and readability.

Rich media content was an essential feature of the third iteration of the A&O graduate Website - features such as Video Blogs and Flash games were embedded into the very fabric of the site from the outset. In addition a 'Day in the Life' guide was developped as a video narrative feature to orientate prospective graduates to life in a top-flight law firm. This and the other video features, augmented and built upon the 'London Life' guide developed over the first two releases of the website.

Result: Overall the project has been a great success over the 3 designs iterations from 2006 - 2008. The blogs have proved very popular, not just with the graduates but also with the employees who enjoy catching up on their colleagues’ adventures. The photographic assets and video assets have also gone from strength to strength, with both photography and AV being Art Directed and briefed on the project to maintain a consistent look and feel - this has also somewhat influenced the design of the printed collateral. The website was awarded an Honoree status in 2007's Webby awards and was nominated for Best Graduate Recruitment website at the Target HR Awards.

Credits: Senior Designer / Creative Director / Art Director

Awards:
Webby Honoree 2007
Nominee for Best UK Recruitment Website, 2007 Target HR Awards