Finding Balance With the WashU Law Website Design
She’s blindfolded, with a two-sided scale in one hand. Sometimes she holds a book in the other.
Lady Justice is one of the most recognizable symbols of law. She represents fairness, the objective pursuit of truth, and balance between opposing sides in law.
That careful quest for balance shows up throughout the WashU Law campus. Lady Justice is carved in stone on the outside of a building, and cast in metal in the library.
Lady Justice, blindfolded and holding scales, is carved into a building on WashU Law’s campus
She reminds students and faculty that balance is vital in law.
Balance was crucial in our work for the school, too.
We just didn’t realize it right away.
Legal brief meets creative brief.
One of the best law schools in the country, WashU Law (formally Washington University in St. Louis School of Law) combines elite legal education with experiential learning. Students become successful attorneys, business leaders and advocates—even U.S. senators, ambassadors and federal judges.
But don’t take that to mean WashU Law is a traditional, stuffy school. The legal landscape is constantly changing, and the school keeps up. They have Legal Tech Week, hands-on law clinics and online legal degree programs. It’s not just the students who stay busy. Faculty are routinely interviewed by national media outlets and publish research and scholarly articles.
In other words, there’s a lot going on at WashU Law.
When the WashU Law marketing team approached us, the school website was outdated and constrained by the existing technical build. The WashU umbrella brand had just gone through an update.
The school needed a digital presence that better reflected its momentum and position as a top school. It would be an important tool for attracting prospective students (students who are choosing between top law schools around the world). And the site is an important source of info for different audiences, from students, prospective faculty, alumni and donors to recruiters at top law firms and the wider legal world—so flexibility would be key.
We had our work cut out for us.
Seeking counsel on the strategy.
I’m lucky to have a handful of attorneys in my family. They’ve taught me that the strategy behind a case or mediation hearing matters as much as the argument itself (and also, that I can’t just ignore a speeding ticket.)
Website design is the same way.
The existing website had tens of thousands of pages. There was a lot of content to wade through: degree programs, student organizations, faculty scholarship, admissions info. The strategy—an intentional, clean structure—needed to be airtight.
We collaborated with the WashU Law team to create a comprehensive navigation, carefully balancing giving users the right options without overwhelming them with too many choices. The result: clear pathways that guide visitors to learn more, apply and get involved.
The scales of juxtaposition.
WashU as a whole had just unveiled its new brand. The individual schools were expected to adhere to the new brand, too. But WashU Law wanted their site to still be distinct.
There it was again. The need for balance.
So we leaned into it, using balance as our guiding principle: allowing content to breathe while maintaining clear structure and hierarchy. We used white space to create scannable pages and distinct sections that help users quickly orient themselves. Visually, the design embraces the WashU master brand but applies it in a way that feels specific to WashU Law—using select brand colors to accent and highlight key moments.
Authentic photography and videos bring the school’s energy and experience to life. New applications of the WashU shield (oversized in the background for texture, tone-on-tone as a subtle wink, and split color inversion for drama) reinforce the brand without feeling redundant.
Building off WashU Law’s brand language, website copy is bold and action-oriented. It’s intellectual but approachable; aspirational but grounded.
Motion granted.
WashU Law views legal education as dynamic. They don’t just teach students about the law. They teach them how to use curiosity, creativity and visionary thinking to push the practice of law forward.
The brand language sums it up: WashU Law is where creative legal minds are set in motion.
We wanted the website to match that energy. So we infused the site with literal motion. Big headlines and important data points appear as users scroll each page. Images zoom out slightly, giving you the feeling that you’re really there. Stylized hover states on images and links add depth.
Our team kept long-term growth in mind through every decision. Scalability was more important than one-off layouts. That meant creating a system of reusable, modular blocks that adapt to the content they contain. Building the site this way kept information clear and digestible, while giving the internal WashU Law team a powerful, adaptable tool set as the site grows.
The burden of proof.
The websites we create need to look and sound impressive. But that’s not enough. They need to be effective.
Once the new WashU Law site launched, we didn’t have to wait long to start seeing results.
Our team uses Ahrefs, a digital marketing tool, to measure the technical health of websites. (Technical health is a key factor in how a site ranks in organic search results.) The former site had a health score of 55 out of a possible 100. The new site scored a 98. Not bad.
As Google indexed the new site, its ranking performance skyrocketed. On average, the previous site ranked in the 25th spot in Google results. Within a couple months of launch, the new site averaged the ninth spot in rankings.
Just as importantly, the WashU Law team heard positive feedback from faculty, staff and students about the new site.
“Our new site is visually appealing, functionally smart and easier to maintain. Working with Atomicdust made the process strategic and efficient to exactly the right degrees—never cumbersome, always thoughtful.”
-Megan Spence, Director of Marketing, Communications & Events at WashU Law
Up next on the docket.
Lady Justice doesn’t peek from under her blindfold. She doesn’t tip the scales in anyone’s favor. She just holds them steady. She trusts that the work speaks for itself.
That felt right for this project. A site that balances structure and breathing room. Consistency and distinction. Ambition and approachability.
We’re proud of what we built with the WashU Law team—and we’re still building. We continue to partner with them on brochures, digital marketing and other creative initiatives.
Balance, just like justice, is always evolving.
