I’m Lauren, a front-end developer and erstwhile anthropologist living in Blacksburg, Virginia with Dosi and Coconut. I have nearly a decade of experience designing and building websites for diverse-scale educational organizations and helping craft bespoke digital marketing strategies. I am currently the Web Developer for Virginia Tech’s Principal Partnerships Office.
About me
I was born into a military family on a MEDDAC installation in Bremerhaven, Germany. After moving around every few years we landed in Anchorage, Alaska when I was 14, and that's where I've called home ever since! 🤍
I love to create, and websites have become my favorite way of self-expression. The combination of analytical thinking and design is a constant challenge and endlessly intriguing. As a self-taught developer, the sense of accomplishment from solving complex problems and seeing my creations come to life on the screen is incredibly fulfilling, and motivates me to push the boundaries of digital innovation.
Work Samples
Freebie
Google Tea House Dynamic Notion Cover
For those who enjoy the serene ambiance of Google‘s Tea House theme, I've created a Tea house Notion cover that dynamically changes with the time of day. Just like your inbox! Click the link below to use the cover on your own Notion pages and enjoy a moment of zen throughout your day, courtesy of Google.
Phase, Inc.
Phase Website
A handcoded website for Phase, Inc. integrating Surreal CMS for content updates. As a new company, Phase had limited visuals and brand elements, but knew the vibe they were going for and who their competitors were. We were able to create a landing page that communicated their vision effectively, resulting in a landing page that is clean, modern, and tech-forward. By leveraging the flexibility of lightweight CMS we empowered Phase to maintain their content dynamically while keeping unneccessary complexity to a minimum.
The Catholic University of America
Institute for the Study of Eastern Christianity
A handcoded WordPress theme for the newly-launched Institute for the Study of Eastern Christianity. The layout facilitates easy access to information about the institute's activities and research. The prominent incorporation of gold and subtle marble textures resonates with Eastern Christian art and architecture, and complements the center's images. An interactive globe showcases the universal influence and reach of Eastern Christian traditions.
G.K. Chesterton Entertainment
GKCE Website
A handcoded website revamp for G.K. Chesterton Entertainment Company. We created a sophisticated and intuitive design to enhance user engagement, with custom interactive elements to seamlessly guide visitors through GKCE's video content. The new site vividly showcases GKCE's diverse entertainment portfolio, reflecting it's mission with professionalism and style.
Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
“From Pests to Protein”
“Pests to Protein” details Virginia Tech's innovative research on transforming insects into sustainable food sources. Using Lottie and ScrollMagic, the article displays animated SVGs that pin on user scroll, visually communicating the scientific and economic potential of this novel food source.
Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia
Ukrainian Catholic Crisis Media Center
Stood up website with a two-day turnaround in an emergent situtation. Created custom fields for adding YouTube and Facebook videos as full-width, autoplaying video backgrounds. Developed a script to translate the website into Ukrainian based on the language of the post.
The Catholic University of America
School of Theology and Religious Studies Website
Revamped school homepage within the brand identity of the university. The CMS restricted adding or modifying CSS/HTML attributes, so we added stylesheets and HTML dynamically to achieve a custom layout and unique, interactive features.
Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
CALS Strategic Plan
Converted PDF Strategic Plan into an engaging and interactive website. The “solar system” became an animated, parallax feature with hover effects displaying information about each focus area.
Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Sesquicentennial
Celebrating 150 years of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the design emphasizes the college's deep-rooted history and ongoing impact in agriculture and community development. On page load, the photos are randomly selected. Hovering on a photo removes the overlay, and clicking on a photo rotates it to reveal it's paired newer/older image.
Virginia Tech Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station
Interactive ARECs Map
An interactive illustration of the breadth of research engaged in by Virginia Tech's Agricultural Research and Extension Centers. Hovering over an icon will show ARECs associated with the research topic. Base layer is a styled Google Map.
Virginia Tech
Center for Power Electronics Systems Conference
A website for the CPES annual conference. Dynamically populated with over 200 student papers from Google Sheets, with PHP page templates to show papers by student and session.
