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Research & policy·Case study

EPDRI

Multilingual site for a European research institute, on Next.js: clear institutional positioning and a sober design that reads as credible from the first glance.

Sector
European research institute
Year
2024
Duration
1 week
Main outcome
Institutional design
typography, palette and rhythm of a research institute — credibility at first glance
EPDRI · 2024
Brief

What we set out to build

A research institute gets about ten seconds to convince a funder it's serious. That's all a homepage buys you. We worked with the comms team on the positioning message — who they are and who they're for — and wrapped it in the design language of an institute, not an agency. Then we built and launched the bilingual platform on Next.js.

01

The platform had to position the institute within the first 10 seconds: what it does and for whom, with no jargon.

02

The design had to convey institutional gravitas — typography, palette and rhythm of a research institute, not a generalist agency.

03

Projects across 4 global regions had to be visibly structured so funders could quickly gauge the scope of operations.

What we built

The pieces that make the system
Work together, not in isolation

01

Strategic positioning

Workshop with the comms team: who they are, what they don't do, for whom. The output: a clear homepage promise in two languages, with no jargon.

02

Institutional design system

Sober palette, weighty typography, grid and visual rhythm that convey seriousness without feeling rigid. Applied coherently across every page.

03

Structured portfolio

6 major projects presented as individual cards: objective, region, partners, period, key outcomes. Filterable by region and domain.

04

Coherent multilingual

English and Romanian with identical structure, instant language switch and correct canonical URLs for institutional SEO.

Tech stack
Next.jsReactTypeScriptDedicated VPSNginx
Measured results

Numbers we measured,
not rounded up for the pitch

10+
Years of institutional experience
4
Active regions
15+
International partners
EN/RO
Languages supported
How we worked

From the goal,
to delivery

Step 01

Goal & discussion

We talked with the comms team about who they are, who they speak to and what the platform must convey.

Step 02

Direction set

We proposed bilingual positioning and an institutional design system. We agreed the direction together, before any code.

Step 03

Approval

The team signed off the key screens and the homepage promise. Green light to build.

Step 04

Delivery

We built the multilingual site on Next.js and launched it on a dedicated VPS, with a bilingual update playbook.

Next step

Let's talk about your business.

30–60 minutes. Free. No slides, no hard sell. You walk away with a clear view of what makes sense for your business and what the next step is.