megwalkerdesign

I designed and built the report on giving.virginia.edu, folding 22 case statements into one interactive platform with custom WordPress development, an interactive map of campaign building projects and data visualization throughout.

The platform gave smaller units a ready-made report and linked to larger units' own reports. It brought campaign results, stories and building projects together in a consistent digital experience.

Corporate & Foundation Relations needed coordinated engagement plans, impact reports, partnership networks and maps. The materials had to make complex relationships clear, support efficient updates and work both in meetings and in print.

Working with the CFR team, I designed and built a suite of materials with shared visual standards: engagement plans, reports, an explorable partnership network and a partnership map. I used HTML, CSS and JavaScript, with Claude supporting development, and prepared print-ready PDF output alongside the digital pieces.

I designed and built the feature using AI-assisted development, working out page structure, hierarchy and how information unfolds as a reader scrolls. I designed the digital experience to showcase the quality of the writing, photography and film, bringing the data and staff profiles into a cohesive story.

The photography and film are by my colleague Jeneene Chatowsky. My part was the digital design and the code.

I manage the site and do its ongoing design and front-end work. I directed the Honor the Future Drupal build with an outside firm, then led the migration to WordPress: more than 300 stories and 200 pages.

Day to day, that means story templates, event pages, MJML email production and publishing tools that colleagues can use independently.

I created the campaign mark, typography, color palette and standards, then spent nine years helping communicators across Grounds use them well. The system had to stretch from a Rotunda-at-dusk launch film to a giving website to a school's one-page case statement, and still read as one campaign.

For the campaign’s closing celebration, I developed the name Illuminating Tomorrow and the initial creative direction and graphics package. An external production partner adapted that work into the event displays.

I provided creative direction for Envision, the magazine that tells donors what their gifts did. The neuroscience issue's cover started as a Midjourney exploration; I refined the brain illustration by hand and built the issue around it. The magazine received a 2025 CASE Circle of Excellence Silver.

For UVA Health Advancement I took Pulse from a saddle-stitched newsletter to a perfect-bound magazine with patient-centered stories and commissioned photography, including a NICU cover shoot.

The series needed one recognizable look that could travel to Richmond, Atlanta, Washington and beyond. I built it around a Midjourney-generated dusk sky and Rotunda, composited and finished in Photoshop, so each stop could carry the same atmosphere.

It's a good example of how I use generative imagery: as one ingredient inside a normal design process, with clear lines between what's photographed and what's generated.

I teach Communications colleagues and partner units how to use AI in production work: choosing appropriate reference material, explaining the audience and constraints, and establishing design standards before generating a finished piece. The training emphasizes reviewing the output against the brief and deciding what to revise or reject. I've taught at UVA's Week of Learning and serve on the External Relations AI task force.

I use real projects to discuss where AI helps and where human judgment remains essential. The Hardie Center feature, partner engagement suite and Envision cover show different applications: front-end development, coordinated design materials and editorial illustration.