Case Study
St. Norbert College
Celebrating the individuality of the world’s only Norbertine college
Overview
Rooted in Catholic, Norbertine, and liberal arts traditions, St. Norbert College is a nationally ranked institution known for its close-knit community and emphasis on ethical leadership and service. Spark was proud to partner with this values-driven institution to help bring its unique mission and beautiful campus to life online.
Services
- Stakeholder interviews
- Focus group moderation
- Taxonomy testing & design
- UX/UI design
- Copywriting
- Front-end development
- Content migration
- Holistic QA
Technologies
- Optimal Workshop
- Figma
- Drupal
Timeframe
- 12 months
Visit
Challenge
Capturing what makes SNC different
Everyone agreed: once you visit St. Norbert, you get it. But the website wasn’t capturing that on-campus energy, or what makes the college experience truly transformative. The site needed to convey SNC’s radically supportive culture, holistic student development, and ideal location more effectively. It also had to address affordability concerns and improve usability to help prospective students see the full value of an SNC education before they ever set foot on campus.
Process
Immersing in mission and tradition
As with every project, we began by listening—visiting campus, interviewing faculty and staff, and speaking with students to understand the whole St. Norbert experience. However, this work also required a deeper examination of the college’s Catholic, Norbertine roots to ensure that the site reflected its mission and spiritual foundation. The insights gathered guided our visual, content, and UX decisions, all of which were tested and refined through an iterative process.
Solution
Ever ancient, ever new
To reflect St. Norbert’s deep-rooted traditions and vibrant student life, Spark delivered a complete site redesign that brings its Norbertine identity to the forefront. The design strikes a balance between SNC’s timeless values and a modern edge, pairing classic serif typography with bold sans-serif fonts seen throughout campus, and integrating dynamic, TikTok-style student testimonial and content modules. The result is a flexible, mobile-first experience that feels both grounded and forward-looking, just like SNC.
Outcomes
“Spark’s ability to lead us through content migration and communicate it meaningfully made all the difference, and the design captured the spirit of SNC in a way our previous site never achieved.”