From prototype to identity
7 July was a major build day for Ivrea Observatory. The Tonight section moved from an interesting experiment to a page with a real identity: more editorial, more visual and more recognisable.
The goal was not simply to add another feature, but to create a section that makes people want to step outside, look up and watch the sky without feeling trapped inside technical software.
The birth of the new Tonight page
The work focused on a strong hero, clear buttons, dedicated planet imagery and cards that explain what to see without asking the user to interpret maps or coordinates.
The “I saw it!” button was brought into the foreground, without forcing users to expand hidden details. This changes the nature of the page: less passive consultation, more participation.
Asset pack and visual consistency
A small astronomy asset pack was also built during the day: planets, Moon imagery, interface elements and backgrounds designed to give the site a consistent visual language.
The important point is not merely to have “pretty icons”, but to make the home page, Tonight and the other sections feel like parts of the same digital observatory.
A higher quality bar
This evolution raises the quality bar for the rest of the site. When one section becomes genuinely strong, the whole project naturally asks to be realigned: dashboard, SkyCam, sensors, Journal and information pages.
7 July was not simply a day of changes. It was the moment Ivrea Observatory began to feel like a complete project, rather than only a collection of features.
Highlights
On the workbench
- Keep the project moving without losing the reasoning behind each step