CalMatters
BACKGROUND As the sole designer, I created the design system and led design for article experience, navigation, and other core site features. Beyond overall user experience, I designed for several impactful projects including a voter guide, legislator tracker, and police shooting database, as well as newsletters, social media, marketing, and events.
TIMELINE2.5 years
AREAProduct Design
Social Media
Stakeholder Management
Print Media
Digital Storytelling
1. Design System
Read more about our design system here
1.1 Standardization & establishing a foundation
My main priority upon joining was to form the foundational structure of a design system that could support this variety of needs we would have over the long term, starting with standardizing fonts, colors, and icons, and continuing on with reusable components and layout that could serve multiple purposes as we expanded.
The design system is a constantly evolving framework; taking into account new needs and design directions— however once it was initially established, it gave me a valuable foundation to rely on as I designed other areas of the company.
Click here to learn more about the methodologies I used in developing this typography system, as well as best practices and usage guidelines.
1.4 SpacingThe spacing and layout documentation of the design system can be found
here.
2. Social Media
Making our social media designs more visually compelling was an effective tool in gaining more readers and viewers of our digital content, which helped our brand grow and blossom over time.
2.1 Inconsistency in the old layouts
The old social media layouts were inconsistently styled, which resulted In a lack of engagement across channels. There wasn’t a strong brand recognition across posts, and information was not delivered efficiently.
2.2 Increasing visual harmony with new layout options
3. Selected Projects
3.1 Legislators Like You
The Legislator Tracker provided a wealth of valuable inside information to voters about their local and neighborhood legislators, including causes they champion, as well as all available demographic data.
3.2 Police Shooting Database
After the death of George Floyd, a California law required the Attorney General’s office to investigate every fatal use of force by police officers against unarmed people. This database was designed to visualize the cases and investigative records related to each incident.