Beyond 1932
An academic research website for King's College London's Department of Music — design, WordPress build, and SEO that took “Beyond 1932” to the top of search.
- Role
- UI Designer & WordPress Developer
- For
- KCL — Dept. of Music
- When
- 2024
Built with — WordPress · Custom CSS · SEO
Overview
Beyond 1932 is a professional research website for the Department of Music at King's College London, showcasing a groundbreaking project on the 1932 Cairo Congress of Arab Music.
As sole designer and developer, I transformed complex academic content into an accessible, professional website — while managing the entire project lifecycle.
Role
- UI Designer
- WordPress Developer
- Project Manager
The challenge
The research team needed a website that would:
- Present academic research in an engaging, accessible way
- Support multiple content types — events, resources, and team profiles
- Maintain academic credibility while avoiding stereotypical regional visual motifs
- Provide easy content management for the research team
- Scale with the project as new content is created
Discovery & process
I began with a structured discovery meeting, using prepared documentation to guide discussion of design preferences and restrictions, content requirements, technical needs, future plans, and per-member timelines.
The team specifically wanted a professional, straightforward, and artistic design that broke away from stereotypical Egyptian visual motifs while maintaining cultural sensitivity.
Web design
A design system that balances academic professionalism with artistic restraint.
Typography
A primary serif for headings conveys academic authority, paired with a clean sans-serif for body text. A clear typographic hierarchy, with tuned line-height and letter-spacing, keeps long-form content readable on screen.
Colour
A sophisticated scheme reflecting academic integrity, used strategically to guide users through content sections — with accessible contrast ratios throughout.
Layout
A grid-based layout for consistency, with white space used deliberately to aid digestion. Responsive breakpoints and a clear visual hierarchy guide users through complex information.
Components & brand
Components & interactions
- Event cards — key information at a glance
- Team profiles — professional yet personable
- Navigation — intuitive menu with clear visual feedback
- Content blocks — modular, flexible presentation
- Calendar interface for event browsing
- Accessible forms for contact pages
Brand identity
A custom favicon fuses the capital “B” from Beyond 1932 with a musical note, in the project's theme colour. A consistent visual language and image-treatment guidelines run across every page.
Development & SEO
A custom WordPress solution built for both user experience and maintainability.
- Custom CSS — enhanced menu layouts and templates to match the project's needs
- Event management — an integrated, customised calendar plugin for intuitive tracking
- Resource library — a secure system for downloadable transcripts and research materials
- Responsive design — a seamless experience across all devices
Search engine optimisation
To maximise visibility, I implemented comprehensive SEO — keyword research and optimised titles and meta descriptions for key project terms, a structured content hierarchy, SEO-friendly URLs, proper heading hierarchy, faster page loads, and structured data for events and team members.
Gained top-tier search placement for key project terms including “Beyond 1932”, improving visibility in academic and research-focused searches and the discoverability of resources and events.
Homepage
The homepage works as a guided journey through the project — overview, latest events, team highlights, featured resources, and recent residencies.
Project management
I ran the project with a structured approach: regular stakeholder check-ins, clear content-submission deadlines, and documented feedback and revision cycles.
And I wrote comprehensive guides — for content updates, event management, common editing scenarios, and future maintenance — so the team can run the site long after handover.
Results & learnings
The website was delivered successfully, meeting and exceeding requirements:
- Maintainable — an easy-to-use content management system
- Scalable — future-proof architecture for growing content
- Professional — an elevated digital presence for academic research
- User-friendly — intuitive for visitors and administrators alike
Learnings
- Clear communication in academic contexts
- Balancing design aesthetics with functionality
- Future-proofing content management systems
- Detailed documentation for long-term maintenance