STA Blog

LAITS T-Shirt Design

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LAITS T-Shirt Design

I was tasked with creating two designs for the annual LAITS T-Shirt: one Retro/Y2K inspired design and one Music Festival inspired design!

➜ Design Drafts: I started out by creating a Pinterest board of music posters/y2k designs that inspired me, and then ideated a few sketches for each theme. For the y2k designs, I was inspired by abstract shapes and stars, and dynamic lettering. My music fest designs incorporated more chunky lettering, and a more boxy structure. The y2K sketches are on the left, and music fest sketches are on the right:

My first semi-polished draft was for the y2k/retro vibe, and I took heavy inspiration from the abstract forms in the Pinterest inspo photos. I had fun playing around with different effects on Illustrator and Photoshop for this one:

Ultimately, I wasn’t sure the design felt cohesive enough for the T-shirt (especially between the smooth line art and pixelated graphics), and I thought I could convey the retro y2k theme in a stronger way. I then created a second draft for the y2k theme, inspired by a retro DS:

For the music fest theme, I created an illustration inspired by 80’s style 3-D lettering, and I included a sun because typically music festivals happen in the summer (and at ACL Fest, the hot sun is definitely a big factor). I created versions with and without a little music fest turtle, adding halftones for texture and duotone colors for contrast:

➜ Design Finalization:

The design that was chosen was the music fest design! I was then asked to create a version with a different animal as a mascot. I made two variations of the original design with a silly racoon:

➜ Tee Mockups:

I was then asked to mock up the existing music fest designs on tee shirts. I also was asked to consider different color options (monochrome vs duotone, different color combos, ect). Because of the amount of variables I had in my options (3 design options, monochrome/duotone, shirt color), I ended up making a whole bunch of tee shirt mockups and color combinations:

JANUARY 2026

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JANUARY 2026

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— Spring 2026 STA Roster Poster–

I worked on this assignment in December and the first half of winter break; however, I finished it up during this month and will share my process here!

This poster was very fun! I loved being able to return to Photoshop after spending many weeks in Illustrator. Having the freedom to create fun and expressive doodles was refreshing and I enjoyed myself a lot during the creation of this poster.

Since I was picking up the assignment, I was able to jump right in without having to do much planning. Taking in the previous feedback, references provided, and existing poster, I got right to work!

Sketch for the poster title

As we got the final list of STAs in, there had to be some adjustments to who was on which Spring Roster Poster. We swapped Classroom Support and Design for Computer Support and Audio from the Minimalist Poster to even out the amount of STAs while keeping a similar layout to the previous draft.

— Summer Marketing Pre-Roll Animation Continued—

After finishing the frame-by-frame animation for the graduation scene, I was tasked with making some edits as feedback came in. One of these was making edits to the pricing scene. I was requested to add more interest to the background of the scene and bring more attention to the text. Lila suggested make it as if they’re coming from fireworks.

Here is the New Pre-Roll draft (as of the end of January):

The Carranza Chicano Archive Website

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The Carranza Chicano Archive Website

Client: Jonathan Cortez, the Carranzas

Task: Create a website/branding to introduce The Carranza Chicano Archive.

Status: Complete

Logo Design

Clean, Iconography of the Chicana/o movement inspired

A moodboard

I started the design process by looking at inspiration. The client wanted the design assets to reference iconography from within the Chicano movement, while keeping a dynamic look. The client also wanted the color palette to be made up of deep burnt orange, mustard yellow, navy  blues, and forest greens.

Initial designs

Abstract Banner

Create a repeatable abstract motif/banner graphic for the site. Indigenous iconography (Aztec & Mayan).

Possible Site Mock-Ups

Several options of implementations of the above assets.

Incorporating a Cultural Symbol

The client wanted to include a Hunab-Ku somewhere on the homepage, so I tried several different variations and placements.

We ended up choosing to going with it being in the hero section, with a transparent background.

See the live site!

https://sites.utexas.edu/carranzaarchive

Life & Letters

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Life & Letters

Client: Life & Letters

Task: Life & Letters (official COLA magazine) wants a WordPress template that they can update periodically with their print publication.

Status: In progress, working on the About page

Visit the live site: https://utw11345.utweb.utexas.edu/

Creating a Main Menu Design

I created a design for the main menu. Previously, the hierarchy of the text felt off and there was too much white space. I created a new design that kept “Sections” and “Collections” the main categories, but also gave more emphasis to the “Research”, “Art & Culture”, and “College Communities” categories, which were really tiny before.

STA Alumni Network

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STA Alumni Network Website

Client: LAITS

Task: Design a website that contains information about the STA Alumni Network.

Status: In progress

Understanding the Situation

Figuring out the core needs and goals.

Comparing what we currently have with what we need:

Before I started, there was a template website already in place with placeholder pages. I began my design process by identifying what pages to keep and what—if anything—we needed to add.

Figuring out information architecture:

After determining this, I then figured out the information architecture and user flow of the website.

Research

Gather insights that will inform the design.

I took a look at other alumni websites for a baseline/inspiration:

From there, I compiled the content that we would need to have:

Design & Prototype

Brainstorm and narrow down the visual + functional components.

I sketched out possible layouts for the different screens:

Then I made some low-fidelity prototypes:

Implement

Transfer the designs over to WordPress.

Live site: https://utw11313.utweb.utexas.edu/

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.