Duration: 6 months (volunteer), 6 months (contractor)
My role: Web designer
Tools: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Figma, Squarespace
Client: Vets 4 Vets Santa Cruz
This was initially a service learning (volunteering) project for the California State University, Monterey Bay course: “Race, Gender, and Class in the Digital World.” It involved redesigning the website for a Santa Cruz based nonprofit organization. It eventually became a contract role once the actual website needed to be fully implemented in Squarespace.
Defining the Problem
Vets 4 Vets Santa Cruz needed a website redesign because the old website was not accessibility-optimized and lacked visual cohesion. Some pages were also not responsive (content did not display properly when window resized).
Sketches
I sketched out the main screens for the website.
Wireframes
Prototype
Client changed their mind on some of these design choices later, but the general structure/layout remain roughly the same in later versions.
There were Squarespace/Givebutter constraints that I did not forsee when designing these interfaces as well, and the designs had to be modified accordingly.
Prototype style guide:
Live Website Design
Note that images on the page are missing on the first screenshot, developer tools did not display them.
Custom CSS (with annotations):
Improved Metrics
My visual design changes and SEO implementation resulted in an 8% reduced bounce rate and a 79% increase in page views.
Metrics before my design (old website):
Metrics after:
Website in Google AI Overview:
