the graduate
project overview
graduate hotels is a hospitality brand known for creating hotel experiences inspired by university culture and local identity. in 2023, while working at the charles group, i led the design of a modular cms component system that allowed graduate’s internal teams to build and manage custom hotel website pages through a flexible drag-and-drop workflow.
project type
web design, ui design, design system
year
2023
my role
lead designer
client
the graduate (agency client)
The project centered around designing a scalable set of UI modules that could be combined to create pages for events, hotel amenities, restaurants, bars, room showcases, and promotional content across various Graduate locations. Using Figma, I developed a design system that included typography, spacing, responsive grids, image layouts, and reusable content components tailored specifically to the client’s proprietary CMS. A major part of the process involved close collaboration with our agency’s development team, who were building the live CMS infrastructure in parallel. I worked directly with developers, project managers, and the client to ensure the modules translated seamlessly into production and functioned intuitively for internal content teams managing the platform. The final system gave Graduate a cohesive, scalable framework for rapidly creating new pages while maintaining brand consistency across locations. The project successfully bridged design and development workflows, resulting in a flexible CMS experience that streamlined content creation and supported future growth across the brand’s digital ecosystem. Final Outcome The completed platform provided Graduate Hotels with a modular, future-ready content system that empowered their team to create dynamic pages efficiently without sacrificing visual consistency. The project delivered a cleaner, more flexible publishing workflow while reinforcing the brand’s unique identity across its digital experiences.
