Building a sustainable digital hub
2025
AIR's purpose pivoted after our first year and hosting our first conference. Instead of being very academic-focused, we wanted to move towards becoming an arts-based collective. The new site reflects this, with the focus on multimedia projects created not just by AIR, but our affiliates and community as well. Publications have been reframed as "Dispatches" and have become a space for us to explore different forms of writing based projects.
As the individual leading digital operations, the overhaul of the website was also a challenge for myself to make it easy to maintain for the rest of the team. I've set up a system using Payload CMS that allows the team to publish independently without technical dependencies.
When redesigning the website, I kept this question in mind: How can we redesign the AIR website to better serve the needs of the community?
Figure 1. The video demonstrates the opening of the mission statement section.
Figure 2. The video demonstrates the features of the Dispatches section.
Figure 3. The video demonstrates the features of the Spotlights section, with a unique, non-linear storytelling approach.
Figure 4. Snapshot of the Payload CMS dashboard.
Impact
With the new website, we've seen a 14% decrease in the amount of time it takes to publish new content. 5 team members can now publish content independently.
Reflections
The design balances professionalism, whimsy, academic, and community-oriented elements in a way that feels cohesive. Something I'm still working with is the language of the copy. I want to be intentional with the tone and make it engaging and accessible to a non-academic audience.
The site is still a work in progress, but I believe that the direction is reflective of the new mission and values of the collective. During the project, I've learned a lot about the care and attention that goes into building content models, and it's something I would be more intentional if I were to do it again. In terms of what's next, I have to meet with the team to discuss which projects and dispatches we want to highlight on the website.