STA Blog

Kate Shih

Kate Shih

The ChiLDS Lab

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The ChiLDS Lab Site Redesign

Client: Maria Arredondo, The ChiLDS Lab

Task: Complete a site redesign for The ChiLDS Lab. The client wanted to keep most of the content, but wanted a refreshed and “cuter” design overall.

Status: Complete, Project has been handed off to client

The Old Site

This was the initial site. The client wanted to move away from the standard university template and make it feel more invited and on theme with her lab. Since her target audience were parents of potential participants, researchers, and students, she wanted the website to be cute and attention grabbing, while still being professional and polished.

Logo Redesign

I started by creating a new logo. I took a lot of inspiration from other child-oriented brands and took note of both their typography and color choices.

A moodboard

Initial designs

Abstract Banner

I also created content dividers as an easy way for the client to add personalization to the website.

Possible Site Mock-Ups

Several options of implementations of the above assets.

Client Feedback

Receiving edits and revising.

The client ended up choosing the “lego block” logo design, with some minor edits. After revising to meet her requests, the logo ended up looking like this:

Low-Fidelity Mock-Ups

Lastly, I used my revised information architecture to mock-up some low fidelity prototypes of what the website could like, before handing it off to the client for implementation.

UT in Context Website Redesign

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UT in Context Website Redesign: Sweatt v. Painter

UT In Context requested a redesign of their existing website (https://utincontext.la.utexas.edu/). By the time the project was handed to me, the site had already been modernized. What the client wanted me to do was to create pages that showcased their physical Sweatt v. Painter gallery in a digital manner.

The site originally looked like this:

I liked the idea of having a separate page for each wall; however, I felt that the navigation buttons laid out in the cardinal directions was a bit clunky. My main goals going forward were to make navigation intuitive and to lay out all the information in a visually appealing and non-overwhelming way.

My next step was to mock up the pages on Figma:

Interact with the mockup here!

I then created a map to help guide visitors to the physical location:

Project status: Waiting for feedback

Summer 2025

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Summer 2025

This summer, I went home (California) and got the chance to work for local government. I helped them add new sections to their website, as well as created some marketing materials!

Check out what I did below:

I added a new section to their website catered towards the older population. This included revamping their 50+ Program’s web presence, as well has adding a resource hub.

Visit the live site here: https://www.losaltosca.gov/660/Aging-Adult-Resources

I also got the chance to do a bunch of graphic design work:

Aside from my local government work, I also did some work for LAITS, pursued some side projects, hiked by the ocean, and ate a lot of ice cream (dairy free, of course).

I also made a cat friend ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

Texas German Phonology (TGDP)

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Texas German Phonology Poster (TGDP)

This banner is part of TGDP’s “linguistics of Texas German” mini-series. I was given the information and photos that go on the poster, as well as a couple of reference posters.

Here was the first draft of the poster:

Project status: Waiting for feedback

The Rise and Fall of German in Texas Posters (TGDP)

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The Rise and Fall of German in Texas Posters (TGDP)

I was tasked with continuing to work on the Texas German Dialect Project retractable posters. These posters had already been in the works, and I had to adjust based on client feedback. The client wanted 3 vertical posters with an icon key. Additionally, the client wanted the dates on the timelines to be proportional to the actual time (for example, if the date is labelled “1930-1934”, it should be clearly indicated that the event took place over that span of time).

Here are the posters that I was given to start with:

Changes I had to make:

  • Create icons and develop a visual key
  • Work on making date ranges look like a range on the poster

Creating Icons

This first thing I had to do was develop a visual key. The client wanted icons that represented 5 different types of events: society, immigration, schools, newspapers, and key event. I used Illustrator to draw icons, staying on brand with the colors given to me.

Society
Immigration
Schools
Newspapers
Key Event

Redesigning the Posters

Now that I had icons, I could move on to putting the posters themselves together. The main thing I wanted to focus on was how to show the date range. I settled on added a transparent box behind the event description and using arrows to indicate it’s date range.

After using this technique and adding the icons, the posters ended up looking like this:

Second Drafts

After sending my designs to the client, I got feedback to make sure that the events were proportionally distanced from each other and to add photos + captions to the poster.

Project status: Waiting for feedback

History SZB Posters

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History SZB Posters

I was assigned to help create posters documenting the life of George I. Sanchez for the SZB building. I was given pictures and text, which I was then to format on posters using Adobe InDesign. The process mainly consisted of cleaning up the photos in Photoshop (sometimes converting to grayscale, removing blemishes, and adjusting them so they weren’t skewed), getting all the elements onto the page, and then rearranging them to make sure that the text was not too overwhelming and that the images were big enough.

View the exhibit: