Cascadia Poetry Festival
Client: Cascadia Poetry Festival, an annual event of Cascadia Poetics LAB, Seattle, WA
Scope: Brand evolution, annual logo design, website migration, event architecture, and ongoing site updates
Role: Design, brand evolution, UX, front-end implementation, event content systems planning
Platform: WordPress
Timeline: January 2023 – Present (ongoing annual updates)
URL: cascadiapoeticslab.org/Cascadia-poetry-festival-10
Context: The Cascadia Poetry Festival is an annual gathering of poets in the Pacific Northwest, centered on bioregional awareness, community building, and literary exchange. While operating under the umbrella of Cascada Poetics LAB, the festival functions as its own recurring event with evolving themes, featured publications, and programming each year.
The Challenge: The festival required both structural continuity and creative flexibility:
A website that could support recurring annual events while remaining connected to Cascadia Poetics LAB
Clear navigation between current and past festival years
Support for event registration, workshops, and donations tied to each year’s programming.
The Solution: I migrated and restructured the festival site within the Cascadia Poetics LAB ecosystem, creating a reusable event framework that supports annual updates while preserving archival content. Since 2023, I have designed a new festival logo each year, allowing each edition to express a distinct visual theme while maintaining brand continuity.
The site architecture supports rotating annual content—poet bios, schedules, workshops, videos, and featured publications—without disrupting the underlying system.
Key design decisions included
Annual logo system
Designed a new logo each year (beginning in 2023), allowing visual themes to shift annually while maintaining recognition and continuity.
Reusable event architecture
Built a flexible content structure that supports yearly updates, enabling easy rollover between current and past festivals.
Clear year-based navigation
Structured navigation and page hierarchy to distinguish festival editions while preserving access to archival content.
Integrated registration and donations
Implemented tiered event registration and donation pathways using Funraise, supporting both participation and fundraising.
Contextual visual integration
When applicable, aligned festival visuals with featured publications tied to that year’s event.
The Result: The Cascadia Poetry Festival now operates on a stable, repeatable platform that supports annual growth, evolving themes, and expanding programming—without requiring a full redesign each year. The site balances continuity with creative renewal, allowing the festival to remain both recognizable and responsive.
What This Project Demonstrates
Designing scalable event systems for recurring cultural programs
Managing brand evolution over time, not just one-off identities
Balancing creative expression with long-term maintainability
Supporting content-heavy, community-driven events through thoughtful information architecture
