Garrett: Redefining Mission Through Design
Transforming a historic seminary into a modern, mission-driven digital experience
Client: Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Industry: Higher Education, Religion, Non Profit
Role: Creative Director, Strategist, IA, UX
Team: Account Director, Associate Creative Director, Senior Designer, Senior Developer, Senior Account Manager, Project Manager, Junior Designer, Junior Developer, Client Stakeholders
Agency: Glantz
Overview & Role
Garrett needed to modernize its digital presence to support admissions, deepen alumni and donor engagement, and communicate its inclusive values with clarity. As Creative Director, I led the end-to-end redesign including research, UX strategy, IA, visual direction, and design system creation. I partnered with a cross-disciplinary team to align leadership, simplify complexity, and translate Garrett’s mission into a cohesive digital experience.
Impact
The redesigned Garrett.edu became a recruitment and engagement engine. The new experience simplified academic information, increased prospective student inquiries, and strengthened alumni and donor connection. The modular system empowered internal teams to evolve campaigns with clarity and consistency.
The Challenge
Garrett’s original site was outdated, difficult to navigate, and unable to reflect the diversity and energy of its programs. Prospective students struggled to evaluate degrees, alumni could not easily find updates, and internal teams lacked a flexible framework for content and storytelling.
The challenge was to unify mission, structure, and experience into a digital platform that drives engagement, builds trust, and represents Garrett’s progressive identity.
The Approach
Understanding the Audience
We began with hypotheses about what prospective students, alumni, and donors needed most from Garrett’s site.
Interviews with students, faculty, and donors uncovered key motivations and barriers in their journeys. These insights clarified what each audience needed most: clarity in programs, confidence in the school’s mission, and a simple path to next steps.
Three personas emerged from this work, anchoring the site’s strategy and content.
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Prospective Student Persona
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Alumnus / Donor Persona
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Admissions Persona
Building the Framework
I mapped the end-to-end journey for each persona and used insights to reconstruct the information architecture. We simplified the navigation, elevated Academics, and reorganized content to match how users naturally evaluate fit and build trust.
I guided IA workshops to align leaders around a new structure and validated it through prototype testing.
Stakeholder Moodboard Workshop
Early Design Concepts Driven By Moodboards
Defining the System
I directed the creative vision and design system, using Garrett’s stained-glass heritage as inspiration for a modern, accessible visual language.
Modular components, accessible typography, and consistent patterns created a cohesive system that scaled across pages and campaigns.
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Interior Page Navigation Guides User
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Menu Navigation with Hierarchy
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Intuitive Mobile Navigation
Key Solutions
A modern, inclusive digital experience that:
Helps prospective students compare programs and understand outcomes
Gives alumni and donors easier access to updates and stories
Supports internal teams with flexible, scalable templates
Unifies Garrett’s mission and identity across every touchpoint
Before: Garrett Homepage
After: Garrett Homepage
Academics Wireframe
Academics Landing Page Design
Outcomes
Improved clarity, engagement, and trust across audiences
Higher application inquiries from prospective students
Renewed emotional connection among alumni and donors
Flexible design system that simplifies ongoing campaigns
A platform that transforms Garrett’s mission into measurable digital action
Reflection
This project reinforced how clarity and storytelling can turn institutional complexity into connection. Leading both UX strategy and creative direction reminded me how design bridges mission with meaning, helping people engage with confidence. It continues to shape how I guide teams through complex, multi-stakeholder challenges.