Drama for Life is about social transformation. It is about changing the face of education. It is about creating spaces for education of the soul as much as education of the mind. It is also about ensuring ethical, professional and creative practice in the field of arts development, education, therapies and activism.
When Drama for Life approached Flow Communications to redesign its website, we were more than excited to help it showcase its growth in an interactive way.
Flow created Drama for Life’s first website in 2008 when the organisation was focusing primarily on HIV/Aids awareness through dramatic arts. Drama for Life has now grown into an international academic, research and training programme with more than 20 local and international scholars, networks in 15 countries and 17 staff members.
“Creating this website was a journey,” says Flow designer George Xafis. “We were invited to watch a couple of Drama for Life shows, and that really sparked a lot of ideas for what I thought the site should look like.”
George explains that he created a visual journey from a theatrical point of view: “I wanted the website to entice excitement and surprise. Just like some of the performances, I wanted the user to be drawn into the site.”
Contrasting colour schemes, bold type and lots of images were used to create a visually appealing website, while the main navigation bar is a feature of the site. Says George: “What I found during the performances was that I didn’t know what to expect, so I had to be alert and I was engaged the whole time. I wanted to communicate this into the design. Thus the main navigation drops down in an accordion effect and entices users to go deeper into the site and read more.”
Drama for Life performances rely on audience interaction, so the cast uses minimal props – which is what inspired George to keep the design simple and easy to use, while also adding call-to-action buttons.
“The new Drama for Life website designed and produced by Flow is an inspiration,” says Drama for Life director Warren Nebe. “We are truly grateful for the effort, energy and creativity delivered by our CSI partner. This is just the beginning of a dynamic partnership! Thank you, Flow.”
Says Miriam Behrendt, media and communications officer at Drama for Life: “We are very happy with our new website and have received a lot of great feedback on it. We know that we are not an easy customer to work with, as we are a creative programme, and also had special ideas of how we wanted our new website to look.
“The Flow team managed to realise our ideas quickly and professionally. It was a great pleasure working with Flow.”