CGST 50th Anniversary
Honouring a Legacy, Designing a Future: A UI-Led Web Experience for a 50-Year Theological Institution
Client
China Graduate School of Theology (CGST)
Role
UX/UI Designer
Duration
2 months
Deliverables
Responsive website
My Role
End-to-end designer
01.
UI & Visual Direction
Led the end-to-end design process, translating the 50th anniversary brand identity into a cohesive digital experience across all pages.
02.
Information Architecture
Structured the site's content hierarchy through stakeholder interviews and client meetings, aligning the design with both legacy storytelling and forward-looking vision.
03.
Stakeholder Communication
Worked directly with the project and development teams to manage feedback, align on priorities, and ensure smooth handover from design to build.
Challenges
How might we honour 50 years of legacy through a digital experience — without losing the brand identity already in place?
Extending a visual identity into a digital experience
The client's 50th anniversary branding was already established. The task was to stretch it into a full web experience without losing its integrity.
Balancing legacy and progress
The site needed to honour CGST's history while pointing toward its future, within a single coherent visual language.
Telling a 50-year story without overwhelming the user
Decades of content had to be organised, prioritised, and presented in a way that felt curated, not cluttered.
About the Client
CGST: 50 years of training the Chinese church
Founded in 1975, the China Graduate School of Theology is Hong Kong's only non-denominational evangelical seminary — training pastors, educators, and ministry leaders across the Chinese-speaking world for half a century.
DEFINE
Creating a digital experience for CGST’s 50th anniversary that honors its legacy while envisioning its future.
Maintain consistency
This project didn't begin with personas or field observation — it began with the client's vision. Two non-negotiable constraints shaped everything: the visual identity was already established, and the story had to run in two directions at once.
Insights from user interview
Showcase CGST’s 50-year history and development, not only its forward-looking vision.
The digital experience needed to balance legacy and progress, reflecting both the institution’s past achievements and future aspirations.
Idea
From theme to structure
Wireframe — Desktop (left), Mobile (right)
Both breakpoints were resolved from the start, with the "50" graphic adapted into a circular motif on mobile rather than forcing the full desktop treatment onto a smaller viewport.
DESIGN
From print identity to digital experience
Maintaining consistency with the established branding
The "50" neon graphic and "A Mission and Beyond" mark were carried directly from the print identity into the hero — no reinterpretation, just extension
The dark cinematic colour palette was preserved across all sections, keeping the digital experience visually continuous with the anniversary branding
Typography and layout decisions deferred to the existing identity at every point — the design never competed with the brand, only supported it
History Event Card
Archival photos paired with key details
Hover expansion reveals more without cluttering the default view
Gradient connecting line guides users through the 50-year journey
Visual Transition: Dark to Light
Dark-to-light transition represents CGST's journey from history to futureWarm greeting and session progress visible immediately
Keeps content visually organised and easy to follow
Style guide
Extended to fit the new experience
Colour
Main purple anchors the anniversary theme, with CTA blue #59C8BD directing key actions and neutral greys keeping history-heavy content clean and WCAG AAA accessible.
Typography
Raleway leads all display and heading text with a contemporary weight; Pais handles body copy for legible reading across both English and Chinese.
Iconography
A simple line-based set supports navigation and content without pulling focus from the storytelling.
Outcome & Reflection
What I Learned
Working within a pre-established brand identity taught me the discipline of restraint. Good design isn't always about making new decisions — sometimes it's about knowing when to step back and let the existing system lead.
