COVID Timeline
As COVID-19 unfolded, the University of California played a critical role in the global pandemic response, from vaccine research to frontline healthcare to community support. I set out to capture the scale of that response in a way that would resonate across audiences, from Regents and policymakers to alumni and the public.
Challenge
The story spanned multiple years and needed to hold together several threads at once: UC-specific research and healthcare milestones, national moments that provided context, and the lived experience of communities affected by the pandemic. The challenge was balancing depth and breadth — conveying the full magnitude of UC’s contributions without overwhelming the reader or diluting the narrative.
Approach
- Coordinated content, design, and development from initial concept and wireframes through launch, aligning the team around a cohesive experience.
- Designed an experience built for exploration rather than a single linear read, allowing users to navigate by date or chapter and expand headlines for additional detail.
- Established a visual system that clearly separated national moments from UC milestones, making it easy to understand how the two narratives intersected.
- Integrated video bookends and a gradient that shifts from muted tones to vibrant color, visually reinforcing the arc from crisis to hope.
- Worked with the content team to incorporate photography, quotes, and short-form storytelling that added emotional weight to the timeline.
- Coordinated content, design, and development from initial concept and wireframes through launch, aligning the team around a cohesive experience.
- Designed an experience built for exploration rather than a single linear read, allowing users to navigate by date or chapter and expand headlines for additional detail.
- Established a visual system that clearly separated national moments from UC milestones, making it easy to understand how the two narratives intersected.
- Integrated video bookends and a gradient that shifts from muted tones to vibrant color, visually reinforcing the arc from crisis to hope.
- Worked with the content team to incorporate photography, quotes, and short-form storytelling that added emotional weight to the timeline.