826 Valencia
826 is a hive of activity—literary, educational, exciting, and delightful. In addition to news and events, a piece of writing by a real student is featured every day. This page is a living showcase.
The writing center offers free classes on topics from writing for your pet to creating a comic book. The calendar and integrated sign-up system make it easy for students to get into a workshop they like. And it's elementary for the staff to update so they
Forms can be fun, not formal. Clear, friendly pages make it easy to volunteer, donate, or sign up for a workshop. (That 'submit' button didn't make it onto the final site, by the way. Heartbreaking.)
The creative output of 826 comes in many forms from many sources. Updateable diaries, digital zines, and works in progress are woven throughout the site to give the student writers a chance to shine.
The Writing Center. Arggh.
826 Valencia is a non-profit writing center in San Francisco’s Mission District, founded by author Dave Eggers and staffed by a legion of lit-loving volunteers. The center offers tutoring, workshops, and the means to self-publish to students from all over the Bay Area, all for free. They assist and recognize the efforts of outstanding teachers, too. We redesigned their site as a beacon to anyone who delights in writing.
Focus on the Students
As soon as you cross the threshold, you’ll feel the energy from dozens of busy young minds. We centered the site around the encouragement and inspiration 826 Valencia offers to young writers everywhere.
Organizing a Lot of Activity
Thousands of things seem to be going on everyday with whole new sorts of things added weekly. Our challenge was to find a place for all of them. We kept it clean and gave them room to grow.
Separating Structure from Content
With all this writing going on, the website needs to accommodate frequent updates. We designed it on top of Movable Type, a simple, flexible content management system. Mad props to coder Jay Allen.
Chris Ware!
The best cartoonist in the world drew a mural for the facade of the 826 Valencia building. Then he graciously allowed us to dissect it for sitewide illustration. The result is a literary look with lots of whimsy and some brilliant quirks.