Levelling up higher education.

Northern Lights College homepage showcasing programs and opportunities for students

Northern Lights College (NLC)

A new-school approach for students.

With seven locations, Northern Lights College serves the upper third of BC. Their programs provide hands-on training and knowledge to help students succeed in furthering their education and entering the workforce. 

We modernized and streamlined their digital presence in order to clearly and concisely communicate with current and prospective students, staff and stakeholders. We refreshed their site’s architecture, content and design to highlight their campuses, courses, local cultural and natural spaces.

Reach

  • Seven locations serving Northern BC.

Services

  • Information Architecture
  • Digital Style Guide
  • UX & UI Design
  • Content Optimization
  • WordPress Development
  • WebOps
  • Web Hosting
  • Marketing & Brand Materials

Year

  • 2023

Technology

  • WordPress
  • Jetpack
  • WPML
  • Pantheon
Northern Lights College homepage featuring icons for Continuing Education, Visit, Apply, International, Tuition and Fees, Financial Aid, Academic Calendar, and Careers.Northern Lights College website header with a banner stating, "Your path to a brighter future" and an image of a graduating student embracing a loved one.

Site Architecture

Defining the path.

The old site was outdated and confusing to navigate. Our students-first approach to the new site’s UX allows for intuitive navigation, both for new student recruitment and resources and support for current students. 

We built a concise sitemap and specific pages and microsites to meet different types of students wherever they are on their educational path. These include international students coming to Canada, local Indigenous students, and students in continuing education looking to upgrade, upskill, or redirect their current careers.

Digital Brand Refresh

Crisp, clear, and visually stunning

We updated NLC’s branding so it would stand out from other colleges with a professional yet modern and refreshed look. This included an expanded and vibrant palette, rounded images reflecting NLC’s symbol mark, and mixing in natural images along with local student, school, and location imagery for added authenticity and a unique feel. 

We created a brand guide and digital style guide for easy future direction on usage of the logo, colours, photos, and more. This branding and aesthetic can be seen throughout the new website, creating a cohesive and credible look.

Northern Lights College digital style guide overview
Screenshot of the "Explore the North" section on the Northern Lights College website, showcasing nature-themed imagery and site navigation.

Content Upgrades

A cohesive voice and tone.

The website contained lots of content in many different places authored by many different voices. Distilling all that content into strong messaging and clear user paths for students, staff, and others to follow took some time. Ultimately, NLC’s solid and consistent voice and tone can be found throughout the new website. We worked hard to craft a welcoming, inclusive, and concise tone to convey messages clearly.

We reworked key pages to use different structures to ensure the content was more digestible, such as the distinct “Why NLC?” pages that communicated the specific benefits of attending NLC as a local, international, or Indigenous student.

We broke out the Program areas of study with explanatory overview pages leading to individual courses so students could better understand what they were signing up for. The How to Apply pages were streamlined and simplified with easy-to-follow steps for students looking to apply. We also built trust by adding student, staff, and professor testimonials throughout the experience.

Development & Key Features

Seamless integration.

We ensured that NLC’s site was easy to access and intuitive for front-end users such as students and back-end content managers. The new Student Services hub allows users to browse through all services in one spot easily. Instead of having to bump out to check courses, we seamlessly integrated with their course catalogue software for a better experience. We also integrated NLC’s previously stand-alone Continued Education website into the new site, with a searchable and filterable course catalogue.

With all these additions, we also monitored performance and accessibility. The site still needed to be fast and easily accessible for those in rural BC where internet service may not be as solid and reliable.

Northern Lights College footer with Mailchimp contact form for inquiries and information requests.
  • Northern Lights College Brand Guidelines cover page
  • Contents page of Northern Lights College Brand Guidelines
  • Introduction to Northern Lights College brand
  • Northern Lights College brand manifesto
  • Northern Lights College brand foundation
  • Northern Lights College brand promise
  • Northern Lights College brand drivers
  • Northern Lights College brand personality traits
  • Northern Lights College brand positioning statements
  • Northern Lights College design philosophy
  • Northern Lights College design basics
  • Northern Lights College design conventions
  • Northern Lights College logo design
  • Northern Lights College logo usage variations
  • Northern Lights College logo clear space and minimum size
  • Northern Lights College logo do’s and don’ts
  • Northern Lights College logo rules for units and departments
  • Northern Lights College graphic elements guidelines
  • Northern Lights College brand shapes
  • Northern Lights College iconography
  • Button style variations for Northern Lights College brand
  • Northern Lights College core colour palette
  • ALT: Northern Lights College core colour palette
  • Typography guidelines for Northern Lights College brand
  • DM Sans and Arial fonts for Northern Lights College brand
  • Typography guidelines showing font usage for headlines and body text
  • Accessibility guidelines for using type over images
  • Imagery guidelines cover for Northern Lights College brand
  • Guidelines on what Northern Lights College images should capture
  • Guidelines for capturing authentic photography for Northern Lights College
  • Application of images in Northern Lights College brand materials
  • Examples of Northern Lights College brand in use across different media
  • Digital applications of the Northern Lights College brand
  • Northern Lights College print applications for brand materials
  • Northern Lights College brand application on vehicles
  • Northern Lights College brand application on clothing
  • Back cover of Northern Lights College Brand Guidelines

Supporting Materials

A full ecosystem.

We built out supporting marketing materials to support the new website that reflected the new look and feel and used the new branding and elements. This helped to add authenticity and build trust and connection with local, national, and international students looking for a true Northern Canadian college experience.

Final Thoughts

The future is streamlined.

As agents of change in Northern BC, NLC is dedicated to helping students unlock their potential and realize their dreams. When we approached building their website, we had to consider the needs of different departments and stakeholders, from the registrar’s office, librarians, Indigenous student leads and more to ensure all parts of the organization were represented.

Now armed with a new site that is well-organized and easy to navigate for all parties involved, NLC is better able to serve their staff and students.

Northern Lights College logo with stylized blue wave icon and text