Based on previous experiences (Soy Liebre and La Nación+), the digital team of Argentina's most prestigious newspaper invited us to imagine the future direction of their online portal, lanacion.com.ar. The brief was very simple: "freedom to play and propose the art and ideas we wanted," which would then be distilled into the redesign process that was already underway... it went something like this:

We played, and we played a lot

As with any game, rules are necessary. Since the most fun part of designing an interface is seeing it online, it needs to meet certain requirements. That’s why we were honest in proposing ideas that, no matter how rebellious, could be implemented in reality and aligned with the digital channel’s identity.

There were only two rules, but they were simple and clear:

1. Respect the portal’s identity.
2. Ensure that what was proposed could be done without excessive technological demands.
   

Important! Let’s not forget that this was an artistic exploration meant to serve as creative inspiration for La Nación’s digital design team. It wasn’t about user experience consulting, but rather about joining the team to bring a fresh, visually distinct, and subjectively beautiful artistic perspective.

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Proposal 1

Visually striking with a full-screen welcome, photographic, direct, and impactful. There’s no doubt about which news is the most important at the moment. With this proposal, we aimed to captivate the reader, draw them in, and immerse them in the news before they explore the rest of the portal.

With a simplified menu and a strong brand presence, we sought to evoke the editorial stature of the renowned print edition, which is reflected in the grid we used to build the various moods that define the segments and categories. With a clear classical focus, we aimed to reinvent the news portal through the lens of design: sleek, harmonious, suggestive, and symbiotic with the information it contains.

Proposal 2

Structurally disruptive and informatively modern. Through an interactive infographic, we brought the printed world to life: editorially structured and digitally interactive.

We proposed a permanently visible sidebar menu, which includes access to the main menu and the primary widgets that the user chooses to keep in view (weather, currency exchange rates, upcoming game of their favorite team, statistics of their political party, etc. Any data can be turned into a widget).

Structurally, we designed a grid with an odd number of columns, allowing us to create systematically irregular spaces that added rhythm to the reading experience and helped break up the uniformity of the news feed alongside the photographic highlights.

In an era of statistics and absolute systematization, there are very few opportunities to play and creatively explore.

This was the first step of the challenge, which continued with the selection of the findings that the team believed combined inspirational value with the potential to be applied in the ongoing production process.

We then moved on to design, sketch, and propose as many components and variations as possible, aiming to build a library rich in possibilities that could reflect the intensity and editorial diversity of the constantly published news.

Once the creative/visual direction was designed, we worked side by side from La Nación's offices, applying these elements and designing the necessary pages and sections to meet the ever-tight launch schedule.

We are very proud and eternally grateful to the digital team at La Nación for allowing us to be part of this process, where we had the opportunity to contribute our art and creativity to the design of the digital portal for the country’s most important newspaper.

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