Launched at a time when digital lending of French ebooks was still new, the initiative first relied on a Canadian white-label platform before evolving in 2023 into a formal partnership with Bibliothèque Orange (Orange Library), a century-old reading network with over 10,000 members worldwide.

For French speakers living in North America, access to recent publications in their native language can be limited and expensive, making digital lending particularly valuable.

As Visual Communications Lead, I oversee brand consistency and platform evolution. My role combined brand design, UX strategy, vendor coordination, accessibility integration, and cross-channel system design. I also led the WordPress implementation and ongoing monthly content updates.

LirEncor is a portmanteau derived from the French “lire encore,” meaning “continue to read.”

Current homepage (February 2026), illustrating the platform’s mature positioning after structural evolution.

How to create a bridge with cultural reading traditions with digital access?

In French reading culture, the physical book carries deep symbolic value. For an audience unfamiliar with digital borrowing, the shift to tablet-based reading could easily be perceived as a barrier and required reassurance as much as instruction.

Designing for Low Digital Confidence

The core audience also included many members aged 50+, with varying levels of digital confidence. The website needed to be clear, legible, and cognitively simple. This reflection shaped the tone of the site, the educational structure of the content, and the calm, supportive visual design.

Redesigning a logotype for digital (r)evolution

This same principle carried into the logo redesign, where pairing the book and the tablet visually framed digital lending as a continuation of reading practices rather than a rupture.

Mobile-first constraint

Because members could browse and borrow books from tablets or mobile devices, legibility on smaller screens was a primary design requirement.

The original logo had been created internally but lacked contrast and legibility. Rather than replacing it, I approached the redesign as an evolution focused on clarity, stronger typographic structure, and improved contrast while preserving visual continuity.

• The logo was designed in a horizontal format to ensure legibility
• The typographic system relied on open-source Google Fonts (Plain and Catamaran), ensuring cost-efficient and sustainable deployment across platforms
• The redesign preserved some elements of the original identity as a nod to the brand’s DNA.
  

I delivered a concise brand guide that ensured consistency across platforms. A shared asset library streamlines day-to-day operations while centralizing brand guidelines and logo formats.

From the original in-house logo to a mobile-optimized final version.

Designing for a white-label SaaS environment

The first phase focused on customizing LirEncor’s white-label interface to reflect the new brand identity. Based on prior experience, I anticipated structural limitations and approached the platform with a pragmatic mindset. The Canadian vendor operated a closed SaaS system:

• No technical documentation outlining white-label capabilities
• Fixed layout zones
• Limited UI customization and no access to CSS
• Requests for additional CSS overrides were not supported by the vendor, which confirmed the need to work within the platform’s fixed constraints.

Establishing Constraints in the Absence of Documentation

In the absence of vendor documentation, I conducted an independent audit of the platform before committing to design decisions. Once constraints were clearly mapped, I deliberately avoided over-investing nonprofit resources in customization efforts unlikely to be approved.

To streamline deployment, I produced structured integration documentation specifying the new logo dimensions and the new color codes and accessibility-compliant contrast ratios.

This reduced friction during implementation and ensured brand consistency within the platform’s fixed technical framework.

Integration documentation prepared for the Saas Vendor, specifying logo dimensions, color codes, and WCAG-compliant contrast ratios to ensure accurate deployment.

Within the partner’s fixed layout zones (960×250 format), I designed a serie of recurring promotional modules integrated directly into the platform landing page. These modules:

• Highlighted seasonal selections
• Supported discoverability within a licensed catalog
• Reinforced onboarding messaging
• Maintained brand coherence

I developed a lightweight brand guidelines to support consistent implementation across volunteer contributors and print/digital touchpoints.

From Product to Emotional Framing

Early high-fidelity mockups explored a more product-driven approach, using device imagery to communicate the digital nature of the service. However, this direction felt too technical and startup-oriented for the association’s audience and tone.

We therefore shifted toward a more human-centered visual language, moving the focus from device to experience.

Introducing “The Reader”

Instead of a phone mockup, we introduced a brand character: "The Reader". She’s calm, grounded, suggesting that reading on mobile is effortless. The message became clearer: digital reading is not a technical act, but a simple, everyday gesture.

The Reader represents the pleasure of reading, simply transported into a new format. The joy of reading remains unchanged.

From the original mockup to final UI Direction.

After its first year, LirEncor entered a new phase of maturity. Following changes in the technical and distribution model, the platform evolved operationally while the digital reading offer gained visibility and legitimacy. This growth called for a refinement of content strategy and positioning.

Rather than rebuilding the platform, we evolved the existing structure to support clearer alignment, stronger messaging, and a more mature visual tone.

The evolution focused primarily on:

• Refining content strategy and information architecture
• Clarifying the value proposition within the broader reading network
• Strengthening visual credibility through original photography
• Improving SEO performance with authentic, contextual imagery

Because the original system was designed for flexibility in mind, these adjustments required minimal redevelopment while preserving brand continuity. The platform proved structurally resilient, capable of evolving alongside organizational growth.

Visit the website: lirencor.com

Original photography: Stephanie Lesperance