Asia Contemporary Art Forum (ACAF)
Individual - Web Design Intern - November 2024 to May 2025
I redesigned the Asia Contemporary Art Week (ACAW) archival website to preserve 20+ years of programming for the Asia Contemporary Art Forum. The project focused on visual consistency, navigation, and retro-inspired UI design. I also standardized 25+ archival booklets using InDesign. I refined the site using WordPress, Illustrator, and custom HTML/CSS elements.
The website can be viewed at acaw.info.
The website can be viewed at acaw.info.
To better familiarize myself with the previous website’s content and the design language implemented by ACAW archival efforts, I was tasked to proofread the content and standardize the design of 28 PDF booklets using InDesign.
When working on the PDFs, it became apparent that a design language for the archival information had already been established using two main fonts and seven different colors. Each PDF used a smaller selection of these seven colors and a lighter shade as an accent.
When working on the PDFs, it became apparent that a design language for the archival information had already been established using two main fonts and seven different colors. Each PDF used a smaller selection of these seven colors and a lighter shade as an accent.
The Explorer
Age:
47
Bio:
Curator at a mid-sized contemporary art museum.
Goal:
Discover artists whose work aligns with his museum.
Pain Point:
Confusing site structure makes it hard to find artists or events.
Need:
Understandable browsing experience at a glance.
Motivators:
Bringing unique artistic voices to his museum.
A curator in a gallery (2025) sambath | Adobe Stock
While ideating, I created 44 different button designs. During ideation, I was inspired by layering of retro web design while incorporating design elements from the PDFs.
These buttons would be utilized in 2 different contexts: buttons for PDFs and buttons for navigating the website.
Two design styles were chosen to be further refined. The larger buttons outlined in column 4 would be used for navigating the website, while the thinner buttons in column 6 would be used for opening a PDF embedded in the website.
These buttons would be utilized in 2 different contexts: buttons for PDFs and buttons for navigating the website.
Two design styles were chosen to be further refined. The larger buttons outlined in column 4 would be used for navigating the website, while the thinner buttons in column 6 would be used for opening a PDF embedded in the website.
After the button designs were finalized, I created a banner design to separate long lists of artists. I found it important that the design of these banners was not identical to any button design, as these banners would not be clickable.
Previously, the ACAW website had 8 tabs and countless, convoluted subpages. I redesigned the website to have a streamlined navigation to simplify its structure.
Finally, to aid in navigation, I proposed a design for a back button and implemented this button on each page that could not be accessed via the top navigation bar.