Rise in STEM
BRAND IDENTITY | UX/UI DESIGN | WEB DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT | CONTENT STRATEGY | INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
Project Overview
Rise in STEM is a Toronto-based grassroots organization supporting Black and underserved youth in STEM. The project focused on refreshing its visual identity and redesigning its website to create a more engaging, youthful, and accessible digital experience.
As an independent design consultant, I led the project from strategy to execution, shaping the brand's visual direction, user experience, content strategy, and information architecture, as well as designing and building the website in Squarespace.
Role: Independent Design Consultant
Brand Refinement
Keeping what people already recognize
The Original Identity
Rise in STEM already had an established identity worth keeping, so the goal wasn't to start over but to build on what existed. The refresh focused on creating a more cohesive, contemporary, and flexible visual system that could grow with the organization while maintaining brand recognition.
The New Direction
I introduced a brighter, more energetic colour palette to reflect the youth at the heart of Rise in STEM, while improving contrast and accessibility across digital applications. I also refined the typography to create a bolder, more confident presence, developed abstract iconography inspired by movement and STEM, and introduced a vibrant photo treatment that brings these elements together across the brand.
Website Redesign
Transforming an existing platform into a more intentional digital experience.
Working within Rise in STEM’s existing Squarespace platform, I redesigned the homepage and key pages to create a more intuitive, engaging, and accessible experience. The website needed a clearer structure, stronger visual consistency, and a more intentional approach to guiding visitors through the organization’s programs, resources, and opportunities.
Redesigning the Digital Experience
The redesign brought together the refreshed visual identity, improved information architecture, and clearer content hierarchy to make information easier to find and key actions more visible. A key part of this work was developing a resource hub with a custom filtering system that allows visitors to explore content by stage of their journey, topic, or content type.
Beyond the user experience, I also structured the back end so the Rise in STEM team could independently add, organize, and update content as their resources grow. The result is a more cohesive, accessible, and scalable website that reflects the organization’s energy and mission while remaining easy to manage.
