What design to energize the site, reflecting the image of the city of Clermont‑Ferrand ?
How to make content accessible to as many people as possible by putting users at the center of the thinking ?
Introducing the City of Clermont‑Ferrand
Clermont‑Ferrand, a connected city
Clermont‑Ferrand is the historic capital of Auvergne and the prefecture of the Puy‑de‑Dôme department. With 145,000 inhabitants within the city proper and almost double that for its metropolitan area, Clermont is the twenty‑fourth largest municipality in France. It is the city of ASM (rugby), of the famous black volcanic stone cathedral, of the Council of 1095 where Pope Urban II launched the First Crusade, the city of Clermont Foot, and also the city of… DBM !
Our agency is located just beside Place de Jaude and another of the city’s symbols: the equestrian statue of Vercingetorix by Auguste Bartholdi (who also designed the Statue of Liberty). In short… Clermont‑Ferrand is a city full of history, and above all a place where it’s good to live, with a rich associative network, cultural and entertainment venues enjoyed by all, and nature just a stone’s throw away.
The challenge
The City of Clermont‑Ferrand entrusted DBM with redesigning its website, with strong expectations for it to become both an attractive showcase and an effective portal:
- A new graphic charter and a modern, dynamic design
- Practical information and services centered on citizens and their needs
- A dedicated section just for children
Thanks to its Drupal expertise, DBM was able to meet the municipality’s requests with a platform that combines aesthetics, richness of information, and clarity of navigation.
Key elements of the solution
Creating the website for our beautiful commune of Clermont‑Ferrand was both a pleasure and a challenge for the DBM Team.
To make the many contents, services, and features easily accessible, we designed a user‑centric ergonomics, including a two‑level navigation menu and a homepage offering multiple shortcuts. We also added a search engine to provide another route to information quickly.
Next, this practical tool needed a pleasant and dynamic look and feel. That’s when our designers imagined a contrasting graphic charter, based on the city’s colors.
Then, in order to create a true space for children, with its own visual personality and a fully separate navigation, the DBM Team designed Le Petit Demain, which offers dossiers, news, videos, games, and also the “mag” for young people of Clermont.
Reflecting the dynamism of the city, Clermont‑Ferrand now has a website and a digital strategy aligned with a more modern identity.
