Technology studio · Web apps, websites & marketing
Modernising the heavily outdated website of a Polish software company - a clean, conversion-focused site presenting their database products.
Project at a glance
OTC S.A. is a Kraków company operating since 1995, building tools for migration and work with relational databases (Mediator, Terminal, Winflector). Their previous website belonged to a different internet era - cluttered, hard to navigate, and out of step with the quality of the software itself. We designed a modern, well-structured site that builds credibility and drives contact.
Context & problem
OTC S.A. is a Kraków technology company founded in 1995 by staff of the IT and Telecommunications Department at the AGH University of Science and Technology. For three decades it has been developing tools for relational databases - Mediator, Terminal, and Winflector - used by enterprise clients worldwide.
The company’s previous website was built to the standards of an earlier web generation: a table-based layout fixed at 773 pixels, hover-triggered dropdown menus, and URLs like index.asp?s=21&l=2. When it was created it was a correct, complete site - but it no longer matched today’s devices or browsing habits: it had no mobile version, and navigating it required knowing the site’s structure.
The problem was not the content - that was rich and substantive: product descriptions, technical topics, an FAQ, version histories, departmental contact details. The problem was its presentation. A new client judging the company by its website could come away with an impression of datedness that did not remotely match the quality of the software itself.
The site serves two different groups: existing clients returning for versions, support, and documentation - and new ones still assessing the vendor’s credibility. The redesign had to serve both without losing anything along the way.
Constraints
Strategic principles
The goal was not a new brand but a contemporary way of using the existing one. The OTC crimson, the logo, and the product slogans ("The only way is SQL!") were kept and given a new setting.
Mediator, Terminal, and Winflector are the three reasons anyone visits otc.pl. The navigation, home page, and subpages are built around that split.
The 1995 founding, the AGH origin, and the licence numbers could not stay buried in "About us" - they moved to the home page as proof of credibility.
Long descriptive pages became topic lists, tabs, and cards - a developer looks for a specific issue, they do not read a site like a book.
Nearly half of the company’s revenue comes from export, so the PL and EN versions must be equals - with a switcher available instantly, without a page reload.
Colour system
The goal was not a rebrand but a modernised use of the existing identity. The historic crimson remains the heart of the palette - what changed is its role: from decoration to a controlled accent.
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System accent - CTAs, active elements, key information
A continuation of the brand’s historic crimson in a deeper, contemporary tone. It works as a controlled accent guiding the eye to actions - not as a colour dominating the whole interface.
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Headings and body text
A neutral, confident base for technical content - product names, versions, and specifications read effortlessly on light backgrounds.
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Section and card backgrounds
A light site inverts the dense composition of the old one - long product content gains air and light. The slightly warm white separates sections without rules.
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Informational highlights - news categories, labels
A second, warmer accent separates informational elements from actions - crimson always means "click", orange means "take note".
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Metadata - dates, secondary copy, captions
A neutral grey builds hierarchy in data-dense views - versions and publish dates are present but never compete with primary content.
Typography
Neutral, precise typography supports reading technical information - with one editorial accent nodding to the company’s 30-year history.
600 · 700
Headings and headlines
Migrating to SQL?
A condensed display face organises dense product pages - strong headings ("MIGRATING TO SQL?") mark out sections without stealing space from content.
400 · 500
Body text and interface
Mediator ISAM Server - fast, unproblematic migration from DBF to SQL.
A neutral, highly readable grotesque - precise around product names, version numbers, and technical topic lists.
400 · 600
Editorial accents
Founded in 1995 at the AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków.
A serif accent for leads and company passages adds a documentary character - fitting for a vendor operating since 1995.
User flow
The old site treated all content as equal - three teaser columns of similar weight. The new architecture arranges it into a single, prioritised path.
A hero with the SQL-migration message and a stats band: founded 1995, 30+ years of expertise, three product lines.
The "Products" mega-menu and Mediator / Terminal / Winflector tabs on the home page - the split visitors actually come for.
Readable URLs (/products/mediator/delphi) and technical topic lists - WAN operation, migration costs, Terminal interoperability.
The "Who are we?" section with the story since 1995, licences sold, and dated product news - evidence instead of claims.
A form with a message topic right on the home page, plus departmental e-mails spelled out: office, support, orders.
UX/UI decisions
Key interface sections
The mobile version of the new site - product content in a single column, no zooming required.
Before & after
The previous OTC site was a solution built to the standards of an earlier web generation - complete and substantive, but designed for pre-mobile monitors and browsers. The comparison shows how the same content was translated into a contemporary site.
Before - otc.pl
After - the new site
| - | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Layout & responsiveness | A fixed 773 px table-based layout with no mobile version | A responsive grid adapting to every screen |
| Navigation | Hover-triggered menus and numeric URLs (index.asp?s=21&l=2) | A product-line split and readable URLs (/products/mediator) |
| Content hierarchy | Three teaser columns of similar visual weight | One axis: company profile → products → credibility → contact |
| Product presentation | Long text pages read top to bottom | Product tabs and scannable technical topic lists |
| Language versions | Footer flags reloading the whole page | An instant PL/EN header switcher that remembers the choice |
| Contact | A plain-text card - address and phones, no form | A form with a message topic plus departmental e-mails |
| Visual identity | The brand crimson baked into sliced GIF graphics | Crimson as a system accent - CTAs and active elements |
What we kept
From design to delivery
The new site is an SPA mapping the old site’s entire content structure into a modern architecture - each technical decision answers a concrete project requirement.
What we delivered
The key decision
The most important decision in this project was what we did not change. Modernising a technology brand with a 30-year history cannot cut it off from its legacy - the slogans, the product content, and the crimson stayed, because that is what existing clients recognise. What changed was the delivery: architecture, hierarchy, and responsiveness. Redesigning a mature company is editorial work before it is visual work - organise first, draw second.
Live site
OTC S.A.
A complete personal brand for a children's English teacher - logo, colours, tone of voice, and a website with trial-lesson booking.
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