From the Nominator

"This interactive timeline takes users on a journey through the pandemic, showing how the University of California (UC) mobilized its world-class healthcare and research enterprise to fight the virus. The microsite offers a visually and narratively compelling story that focuses on UC’s most impactful contributions to the global pandemic response. It also looks ahead to show the work underway to protect the world from COVID and future viruses we don’t even know about yet.  

As the pandemic gripped the world and upended every aspect of our lives, UC’s coronavirus response presented a singular opportunity to illustrate the value of basic research and show the tangible impact of UC’s 10 campuses and five medical centers. Yet it was difficult to communicate the scale of our response amid the daily flood of coronavirus news.  

As vaccinations became widely available and lockdowns began to ease, we wanted to capture, in a simple and digestible way, UC’s historic response to the coronavirus and the critical role the university played in helping California cope. We wanted to make it real for people by showing major UC milestones in context of larger events. 

We created an interactive microsite, housed on our primary website, and shared with digital properties across UC. The project involved significant research and collaboration with subject matter experts, curating of images and quotes, compelling copywriting, and innovative digital design. 

The result is an evergreen piece of content that has served as a pillar of our research storytelling and an artifact of this historic time."

From the Judges

This site showcases the impressive scale and impact of the institution during the pandemic. The gradation of colors and integration of audio, video, and photos made the timeline dynamic. The conclusion with big questions for the future was a thoughtful addition.