New Era Veterans of Chicago

Online Presence
In January 2016, Founder/President, Toby Urian, formed NEVOC after finding that there were many Operation Enduring and Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) combat veterans returning home from war with little direction for reconnection to benefit and social support systems. NEVOC immediately gained a dedicated following of members who used Facebook to stay connected to the organization and each other. However, within a few months, members determined that they needed a custom, branded digital experience that more closely supported the organization’s mission and interests.

Donation Portal
NEVOC is a non-profit organization (NPO) whose operations and programming are supported at-large by charitable donations. In light of this, NEVOC Board Members sought an online donation portal so that supporters could easily make secure, one-time and recurring donations from their electronic devices.

Branding
Since NEVOC was a new organization, it had not yet established its identity through an effective branding strategy. Discussions and decisions surrounding the look-and-feel of the NEVOC brand had not yet occurred, and its members desired to come to a consensus on design aesthetics, such as themed fonts, colors, layouts, and logos for web and printed content.

Qualitative Research
Getting to know NEVOC’s goals was of the utmost importance. Not only did we need to understand what their organization goals, or mission, was, we also needed to know their goals for their digital experience. We conducted two phases of semi-structured interviews with the Board and regular members to align the project with the overarching needs of the organization. Our research revealed findings that were instrumental in laying out a value-driven foundation for NEVOC’s digital experience.

Content Selection, Development, Acquisition, & Treatment
Since NEVOC was a new organization, it had limited content available for use in its digital experience. We worked with NEVOC’s Board and members to develop collections of themed content that could be used to support various areas of the website. Each piece of native content was graphically treated for a professional and polished appearance. We then supplemented the native content with stock content so that all website functions and requirements could be supported.

Logo/Seal Design
NEVOC is affiliated with the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and they wanted a logo/seal that was similar to the VFW’s classic golden seal with a modernized custom twist. We used the VFW seal as a model for what we created.  We placed depictions of iconic Chicago structures, including the Willis Tower, Hancock Center, and the Aon Center, around the perimeter of the seal. Additionally around the perimeter are symbols modeled from the official seals of the US armed forces, including the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps. Moving inward, the organization’s name is displayed around the border in bold, san serif font, accented by two five-point patriot stars, representing the two most basic phases of a soldier’s engagement in a foreign conflict, 1. going to war, and 2. returning home from war.  In the center of the seal/logo are depictions of cornerstone military machinery, including a C-130 “Hercules” aircraft, M1 Abrams tank, and US Navy warship.

Development & Implementation
Because there are several members involved NEVOC’s content management process, they needed an easy-to-learn and easy-to-use platform in which various areas of the site could be updated. Additionally, research showed that nearly all members accessed NEVOC information via their smartphones, and therefore all aspects of the web experience needed to be responsive to device resolution/screen size. Our research also showed that NEVOC’s potential for substantial and steady growth over the next several years was imminent. Therefore, we needed to develop the web experience in a highly customizable, scalable, responsive, and relatively user-friendly platform. Based on these requirements, we built the experience in WordPress combined with custom HTML, CSS, and Javascript.

Reflecting on this project as a whole, we completed work in the following areas: Qualitative Research, Branding, Visual Design, WordPress Development, and Testing.  We’ve divided up the project into percentages based on these areas as illustrated in our analysis below: