Blog Insights
50 Years of Environmental Impact: NRDC Nominated for a Webby Award
As we celebrate Earth Day 2021 this week, we are thrilled to share the news that the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and its 50th anniversary website “Fighting Polluters Since 1970” has been nominated for a Webby Award!
As we take this week to reflect on the substantial work that so many organizations do day in and day out to protect our planet—from rallying volunteers to shaping public policy—we are thrilled to shine a light on our clients at NRDC who recently celebrated their 50th anniversary. To mark this moment in time, NRDC launched a special anniversary website that has been nominated for a Webby Award in the “Websites and Mobile Sites: Sustainability & Environment” category. To help the site win, be sure to cast your vote today!
Telling the story of 50 years of impact
To mark its anniversary, NRDC launched an immersive storytelling experience featuring powerful stories and moments from the last 50 years.
Since 1970, NRDC has been working to safeguard the earth—its people, its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends. NRDC combines the power of more than three million members and online activists with the expertise of more than 700 scientists, lawyers, and policy advocates across the globe to ensure the rights of all people to the air, the water, and the wild.
Crafting a compelling story
Our team partnered with NRDC to conceptualize how to capture these highlights in an engaging and informative story. We started by taking inventory of all key milestones over the past 50 years, looking within each decade to build a compelling narrative that allows people to see and feel the emotion of that time.
It quickly became apparent that the experience needed to provide people a way to navigate chronologically, while also being able to dig into specific decades and milestones within.
We linked together key milestones to build a compelling story, using a traditional script format, giving the experience a cinematic and emotive quality.
Designing an easy-to-use experience
The anniversary site allows visitors to explore NRDC’s impact stories in multiple ways, from experiencing the full chronological storyline with a smooth scrolling experience to using the menu to jump from particular areas of the timeline to another.
The design uses full-screen photography, bold typography, and delightful interactions and animations to build an immersive experience. Developed in Drupal 8, the site performs beautifully on mobile, delivering its audiences an engaging, interactive, and seamless experience.
This digital storytelling approach powerfully illustrates all that NRDC has accomplished—from landmark legislation to practical changes that benefit the environment and local communities every day—to inspire audiences to support its work into the future and continue to grow its impact.
We look forward to another year of working with change-makers all over the world and will keep our fingers crossed for the NRDC anniversary site to win a well-deserved Webby!
Happy Earth Day!