I’m From Driftwood
I’m From Driftwood collects oral histories from people across the LGBTQIA+ community and shares them through their website, YouTube channel, and podcast. Their mission is simple and expansive: to tell LGBTQIA+ people around the world, “you exist, you matter, you belong.”
We partnered with I’m From Driftwood to refresh their visual identity and redesign and develop their WordPress website, helping them present a growing archive of stories in a way that feels easy to navigate, supportive to spend time with, and sustainable to maintain.
Project Team
UX Design: Katie Gee
Branding and UI Design: Cecilia Righini
Development: Sofiia Bondarenko
The Challenge
I’m From Driftwood’s archive includes a large volume of story content. The website needed to make it easy for people to browse and find what they are looking for without feeling overwhelmed.
The organisation also needed a platform that supports regular publishing. For a small team, a story archive only stays alive if the system is practical: adding new content should not require a developer.
Visually, the brand needed to be contemporary and recognisable, while keeping focus on the storytellers. In a story-led organisation, the design has to know when to step back and make space.
What We Did
We refreshed I’m From Driftwood’s logo, keeping elements from the previous identity while updating the shapes, fonts, and layout for a more contemporary and responsive system. The full logo combines a geometric speech bubble with ITC Clearface and Aktiv Grotesk. We also retained the whitespace within the square as a deliberate symbol of space: room for people to tell their stories.
We developed a bold but restrained palette that uses strong colour primarily as accent, allowing video stills and photography to lead.
On the website, we designed a modular layout and built the site on WordPress so the team can add new content without needing developer support. Categories and repeatable blocks help visitors navigate quickly to what interests them, while providing enough context about each story without overload.
We also ensured the site is responsive across devices. On mobile, videos occupy the full screen and interactive elements are sized for finger taps, supporting accessibility and real-world browsing behaviour.
Impact
The updated website helps I’m From Driftwood share more stories, more sustainably. Clear navigation and repeatable patterns make a large archive easier to explore, while the modular WordPress build supports ongoing publishing without technical bottlenecks.
The refreshed identity and photography-led layout keep focus on the people behind the stories, reinforcing the organisation’s mission and making the experience feel welcoming rather than clinical.
Most importantly, the platform supports connection: helping visitors find stories that reflect their lives, and helping the archive keep growing over time.
