Relaunch of the re:publica website

In the run-up to #rp26 we completely reworked the re:publica web presence. New look, new features and a Live Center that served thousands of viewers for three days.

Three fanned browser windows showing the new re:publica website, programme, home page and event overview

re:publica is Europe's most important conference on digital society, and its website still had the look and feel of the pandemic years. Ahead of #rp26 in Berlin we rebuilt the frontend from scratch: a professional, modern presence that brings the festival and its offshoots in Vienna, Düsseldorf and Los Angeles under one roof.

Old re:publica website: speaker profile with photo, short biography and one session card, grey background and narrow column
New re:publica website: speaker profile with a large photo on the left, biography on the right and coloured session cards below
Speaker profile before and after. Content replaced by our office dog Nino for illustration.

Clearer, more colourful, faster

The programme takes centre stage. Sessions appear as coloured cards by time, stage and topic, with timeline, speaker overview and off-stage formats in their own views. Anyone who marks favourites takes them straight into the app via export. On top there are colourful accordions and sliders for speakers, partners and the events of the re:publica family.

  • Programme view with session cards in pink, beige and blue, filter, search and day tabs
    Programme as coloured cards with filter and search
  • Coloured stripes for re:publica Vienna, re:publica x New Fall Festival, re:publica Los Angeles and re:publica 27
    The events of the re:publica family as an accordion
  • Speaker slider with portraits and the partner logo grid below
    Speaker slider and partner overview
  • Home page with large stage photo and introduction
    Home page with stage photo and short introduction

The Live Center

A special part that could unfortunately only be seen for three days: our Live Center. A small website module with big responsibilities.

Live Center on desktop: stream from Stage 1 on the left, on the right the current and upcoming sessions of Stage 1 and Stage 2 with remaining time
Live Center on day one: stream, language tracks and a look at the next sessions

The challenge was above all the load. Thousands of people request the same pages at the same time, sessions change by the minute, and all of it has to run without manual intervention. On mobile too, GDPR-compliant too.

How we solved it:

  • Automatic switching. Streams and sessions change on their own, nobody has to intervene during the event.
  • Always current, without flooding. Current and upcoming sessions stay up to date without overloading the database, thanks to periodic checks and clever caching.
  • Privacy first. An overlay sits in front of every YouTube stream so that no tracking happens without consent.
  • Targeted notices. A notification feature shows viewers messages when needed.
Live Center on the smartphone: stream on top, below it language tracks and the current sessions

For us the rule is usually: IT is at its best when it goes almost unnoticed. In this case, rather the opposite applied.

Design and typeface

The design is by fertigdesign, the typeface ABC Solar by Dinamo Typefaces. We translated both into a frontend that grows with the programme, from the first announcement to the last stream.

Planning a relaunch or a livestream with a large audience? Tell us about it.

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