THE PRODUCT: Blood Orange Review is a literary journal that publishes fiction, nonfiction,
poetry, interviews, and visual art.
MY ROLE: As Assistant Web Designer, I was responsible for refining the journal’s website,
streamlining content uploads, ensuring proper formatting for various genres, utilizing proofing systems, and making
the site more accessible to contributors and readers for the latest volume.
INTERNSHIP SETTING: Worked alongside the editorial team, including the Web Editor, Copy Editors, and
Art Curators, to design solutions that improved site usability and management. This internship spanned from November 2024 to February 2025.
KEY SKILLS GAINED:
- WordPress and Elementor proficiency: Managing and customizing content within the CMS.
- UX Writing: Creating accessible content and clear instructions for users.
- Stakeholder Management: Collaborating with editors, authors, and other team members to meet deadlines.
IMPACT ON MY CAREER: This project enhanced my ability to solve complex workflow problems and improved my collaboration skills with different teams, which will be valuable in future design projects.
PLANNING:
Familiarized myself with the existing WordPress site and Elementor setup. Reviewed editorial workflows and identified areas for improvement in content upload and category management.
TASK BREAKDOWN:
Mapped out the required content upload tasks, design adjustments, and category updates.
IMPLEMENTATION:
Began working on uploading content, verifying formatting, and troubleshooting the site’s category navigation.
LAUNCH:
Published Volume 16.2 with an improved user interface and streamlined publishing workflow.
CHALLENGES: The journal's website presented challenges such as manual content uploads, disorganized category management, and an inefficient proofing process. To improve workflow, I refined content upload procedures, ensured formatting consistency across genres, and collaborated with the team to enhance usability. These efforts helped reduce errors and improved the overall efficiency of the publishing process.
OBJECTIVES:
- Streamline content upload workflows, reducing manual work for editors and interns.
- Improve the readability and navigation for readers, ensuring easy access to fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and art categories.
- Utilize an intuitive proofing system for contributors, ensuring fewer revisions and faster publication timelines.
PROOFING SYSTEM: Utilized a password-protected proofing system that let authors review their pieces before publication, reducing the back-and-forth during the review process.
WEBSITE ARCHITECTURE & UI: Implemented multiple written works with appropriate visual accompaniment into Volume 16.2. Improved site navigation to ensure intuitive access to various content types. Maintained a clean, well-structured presentation across the site.
CATEGORY MANAGEMENT: Revised how content was categorized and displayed, reducing manual updates and ensuring that posts were linked to their relevant categories.
RESPONSIVE DESIGN: Ensured that the site was fully responsive, especially for poetry and visual art pages, ensuring formatting and images scaled properly across devices.
SUCCESSFUL PUBLICATION: Volume 16.2 was published with minimal errors, and authors were able to preview and approve their work smoothly.
LIVE WEBSITE: Fully formatted posts for each genre, improved masthead, and updated homepage banners reflecting the new issue. The link to Blood Orange Review's Volume 16.2 can be found here.