Oxford Bibliographical Society

The Oxford Bibliographical Society, founded in 1922, exists to promote a shared interest in bibliographical matters generally, whether relating to manuscripts, printed books, or the arts and trades connected with them.

The Society wanted to improve the functionality of their site - using a content management system to enable easier updating and a feed for their events listing - and to make the design better reflect their traditions and interests.

The approved design uses a simple white page complicated by a deep red header, subtle use of gradients, a marginal wallpaper, coloured navigation bars and other understated decorations such as dotted lines and splashes of greys and pinks. The effect is of a happy combination of old and new: the quirky Eric Gill-inspired font of the title (Chanticleer Roman) works well with the use of a serifed web font (Georgia) for headings and a sans-serif typeface (Trebuchet) in the body text; the images (mostly titlepages and illustrations from early modern books held in Christ Church library) are playfully cropped into neat rectangles.

This was the first site we built with Drupal 7; it's even better than Drupal 6!