The existing site had serious structural problems:
Unfocused messaging
Thousands of pages with redundant information, inconsistent messaging, and no clear hierarchy
Not meeting the user where they lived
Built for desktop when most users were on phones
No systematic approach
Every page felt different, no reusable patterns, impossible to scale
Outdated narrative
Combat-heavy imagery despite less than 2% of soldiers seeing combat. Needed to showcase 150+ diverse career specialties and training paths.
The Army needed a design system that could handle massive content reduction, work seamlessly on mobile, and tell a more complete story about what serving actually means.
My Role
I served as Art Director, leading the visual design team responsible for the complete overhaul of the existing site. My responsibilities included:
01
Working with the Creative Director on managing the overall creative vision and design approach
02
Leading the team through brand design system development and component library creation
03
Establishing content structure and interaction patterns across all templates
04
Managing visual design direction and team execution in Figma
05
Collaborating with UX, content strategy, development, account, and Army stakeholders to align vision with execution
06
Managing asset library, photography direction, and visual quality standards across the entire digital experience
My Approach
Mobile-first, always
Every decision started with the small screen. Components worked beautifully on phones and scaled up.
System over one-offs
Focused on creating reusable patterns rather than custom solutions for every page. This let us handle massive content reduction while maintaining consistency.
Test and validate
Collaborated with the UX team in user research and visual testing throughout to ensure the system actually worked for prospects.
Built for change
Designed the system knowing Army needs would evolve. Created flexible patterns that could adapt without requiring a complete redesign every time priorities shifted.
What I Built
Updated Visual Language
Created a flexible design system focused on authentic narrative. Moving away from combat-focused imagery, the system enabled career storytelling across 150+ specializations. Balancing consistency with flexibility so each career path and audience could shine.
Streamlined Information Architecture
Working closely with content strategy, I created flexible templates and visual patterns that made the streamlined content shine. The system maintained consistency across the massive content reduction while giving each template enough flexibility to handle diverse recruitment messaging.
Flexible Templates
Built a template system that balanced consistency with flexibility. Each template followed the same systematic patterns while allowing unique content moments to shine. Preventing both chaos and monotony across hundreds of pages.
Interaction Patterns & Components
Defined consistent interaction standards across navigation, CTAs, forms, and content modules. Ensured content was absorbed properly while maintaining visual quality throughout the experience.
Outcomes
Massive content reduction
From 6,000+ pages to 90 focused, effective pages — making the site actually maintainable and improving user experience dramatically
True mobile-first experience
Seamless 1:1 experience across all devices, meeting users where they actually were instead of forcing desktop patterns onto mobile
Scalable production
Design system continues to support new products and content without requiring custom work for every launch
Improved recruitment contracts
Improved marketing attributable contracts 104% in first year, with 16% more contact submissions across the site