Case Studies
UX / UI
November 2026
Commercial Space Archive
The Commercial Space Report Archive gives the Space Studies Institute a public-facing retrieval system for early commercial space newsletters, reports, and historical records.
The experience needed to be utility-first: search, sort, scan summaries, open PDFs, and understand the collection quickly. The visual direction wraps that functional archive in a restrained 1970s NASA technical bulletin aesthetic.
Challenge
The Problem
The archive needed to turn a historically important but dense document set into a useful public resource. Core issues included:
- 140 reports spanning 14 years needed a browsable structure that would not overwhelm first-time visitors
- The site needed to behave like a document utility, not a marketing page or image-heavy landing page
- Users needed side filters, search, sorting, summaries, and direct PDF access without losing collection context
- The original 1970s terminology and archival character had to be preserved while font sizes, contrast, and hit areas stayed readable
Objectives
Project Goals
- Create a clear editorial entry point that explains why the archive matters before users browse it
- Build a searchable retrieval view with side filters, collection stats, sort controls, and document hierarchy
- Design repeatable document cards for issue number, publication, date, topics, page count, file size, and PDF access
- Use a warm 1970s aerospace palette and geometric/monospace typography without sacrificing accessibility or scan speed
Selected visuals
Project Assets
Approach
Design Process
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01 Utility Framing
- Defined the site as a document retrieval utility first: search, browse, sort, scan, and open reports
- Kept the homepage focused on context and access instead of large decorative hero imagery
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02 Visual System
- Explored a NASA classified memo direction, then refined it into a cleaner 1970s technical bulletin style
- Built around warm cream paper tones, burnt orange bars, mustard accents, dusty teal status cues, geometric headings, and monospaced metadata
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03 Archive Card & Search UX
- Designed side filters, search states, sortable controls, collection stats, and a repeatable dossier-style document card
- Used index numbers, metadata bars, topic summaries, status labels, and control-panel style PDF buttons to improve scanning
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04 Contrast & Responsive Implementation
- Raised font sizes, strengthened contrast, increased checkbox/button hit areas, and tuned card backgrounds for readability
- Built the experience in WordPress with responsive behavior for long-form context, dense record cards, and embedded PDF viewing
Results
Outcome & Impact
140
Documents organized for public access
14
Years of commercial space reporting represented
2
Historical publication programs made browsable
The result is a public archive that helps visitors understand the commercial space movement before they download a single report.