Institut français de Suède

1. The Challenge

The Institut français de Suède required a digital platform that reflected its dual mission: promoting French culture and facilitating academic cooperation. The previous interface likely suffered from outdated navigation, visual clutter and poor mobile responsiveness, hindering user engagement and content discoverability for a bilingual audience.

2. The Solution

A complete redesign focusing on clarity, accessibility, and a modular architecture. The new ifsuede.com prioritizes a content-first approach, streamlining complex information architecture (events and news) into a cohesive visual system.

3. Key Deliverables & Features

Visual Identity & UX

• Minimalist Aesthetic: Adopted a clean, monochromatic base to let event imagery and cultural content drive the visual hierarchy.
• Navigation Architecture: Restructured the menu to distinct "Admin," "Header," and "Footer" zones, ensuring users can navigate between cultural events and administrative services seamlessly.
• Typography: Selected high-legibility typefaces to support heavy text content typical of institutional sites.

Technical Implementation (WordPress)

• Modular Customization: bypassed heavy theme bloat by utilizing the Code Snippets plugin. This allowed for granular control over specific site functions without altering core files or relying on FTP access.
• Scoped Code Structure:
  • Global/System: Implemented site-wide logic for performance optimization and security.
  • Header/Footer: Custom PHP functions to inject dynamic navigation elements and language switchers.
  • Content: tailored loops and shortcodes to display event grids and course catalogs dynamically.
• SEO & Analytics: Integrated server-side snippets to handle meta-data and tracking scripts efficiently, ensuring GDPR compliance while maintaining visibility.

4. Results

• Performance: Improved page load speeds due to lightweight, snippet-based code management.
• Usability: Enhanced mobile experience and reduced bounce rates on key informational pages.
• Autonomy: Delivered a system that allows the internal team to manage content easily while maintaining design integrity.