Paul E. Nelson
Client: Paul E. Nelson (poet, interviewer, editor, cultural organizer), Seattle, WA
Scope: Website redesign and reorganization, information architecture, archival systems, newsletter integration, donation setup, ongoing content development
Role: Design, UX strategy, information architecture, front-end implementation, ongoing site support
Platform: WordPress
Timeline: August 2021 – Present (ongoing updates and page development)
URL: paulenelson.com
Context: Paul E. Nelson’s website serves as a central hub for his work as a poet, editor, interviewer, and organizer within the Cascadia bioregion. The site needed to support a wide range of content types—including workshops, essays, books, and a large audio archive—while aligning visually and structurally with the broader Cascadia Poetics LAB ecosystem.
The Challenge: The existing site had grown organically over time, resulting in fragmented navigation and difficulty accessing key materials. The primary challenges included:
Organizing a large and diverse body of content without overwhelming visitors
Making an archive of 140+ audio interviews easy to browse and explore
Supporting ongoing workshop creation and management
Aligning Paul’s individual site with Cascadia Poetics LAB while preserving its distinct identity
The Solution: The website was restructured around clear content groupings and reusable templates, transforming the site into a maintainable, extensible system. Navigation was simplified, archives were made searchable and scannable, and integrations were added to support newsletters and donations. Visual branding was refreshed to harmonize with Cascadia Poetics LAB through shared typography, color palette, and illustrative elements.
Key design decisions included
Workshop-focused templates
Reusable page structures were created to allow workshops to be added, updated, and archived consistently over time.
Interview archive system
An interactive, sortable table was designed to organize more than 140 audio interviews, enabling users to browse by guest, topic, or date with ease.
Books archive
A dedicated section was developed to showcase Paul’s published works, with clear descriptions and purchase links where available.
Newsletter integration
Mailchimp was integrated with automated RSS campaigns to streamline ongoing communication with subscribers.
Donation support
Funraise integration was implemented to support fundraising efforts tied to Paul’s cultural and educational work.
Cascadia-aligned visual system
Typography, color, and illustration styles were coordinated with Cascadia Poetics LAB to create cohesion across related sites without duplication.
What This Project Demonstrates
Designing flexible systems for long-term cultural archives
Structuring complex, text- and audio-heavy content for accessibility
Balancing individual identity within a larger organization ecosystem
Supporting ongoing content growth through reusable templates
Treating information architecture as a core design practice
