UX/UI, storytelling, and digital identity for International Budget Partnership

Teal was tasked with redesigning the organization’s entire website and the Open Budget Survey—the most well known of IBP’s many initiatives. The goal was to present IBP as a thoughtful, sophisticated, and welcoming organization—“a budget nerd with a heart for justice.” Because our work was being handed off to a separate development team, Teal had to design every possible template and variant to ensure a smooth transition.

SCOPE

UX/UI design, digital identity integration, visual system refinement, and brand photography direction

Role

Senior Designer
Concept development
UX/UI design
Presentation
Visual system development
Design collaboration and QA

TEAL Team

Aruna Mall
Katrina Connelly
Leidy Restrepo

To help HHMI better tell these stories, We designed HHMI a flexible, scalable design system. It was composed of library components that lets the HHMI team create compelling narratives with both short- and long-form content. We also included media-rich components to make sure they are elevating the scientific innovation that makes this organization so unique.

The project began with a comprehensive audit of HHMI’s content ecosystem. Working closely with internal stakeholders, we evaluated what content needed to be rewritten, elevated, consolidated, or archived. This analysis informed a streamlined content strategy and the development of modular templates designed to support clear storytelling and long-term sustainability.

To support this strategy, we developed a flexible, scalable design system composed of reusable components for both short- and long-form content. The system allows HHMI teams to create rich narratives that integrate editorial content, data, and media while maintaining consistency across programs and initiatives. Media-forward components were designed to foreground scientific work and make complex research more legible without oversimplification.

In parallel, we curated a robust library of on-brand photography drawn from HHMI’s seventy-year archive. The selection emphasized scientists actively engaged in their work, centering authenticity and representation in alignment with HHMI’s long-standing commitment to broadening access and participation in science.

The final platform integrates brand, content, and infrastructure into a durable digital system. Structural and technical improvements ensure content is searchable, indexable, and interconnected, supporting discovery, growth, and ongoing evolution. The result is a clear and extensible foundation that allows HHMI to communicate its mission and impact with consistency and authority across digital channels.