WEB DESIGN · CUSTOM WORDPRESS THEME
Ileana Schinder: redesign and custom WordPress theme
End-to-end website redesign for a Washington DC architect — from Figma to WordPress
This site was rebuilt on a different stack after I left Bits Kingdom in 2025. The screens below show the custom WordPress theme I designed and built in 2023.
YEAR
2023
ROLE
Web Designer & WordPress Developer, at Bits Kingdom
DURATION
5 Months
TOOLS
Figma, WordPress (custom theme), HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP
OVERVIEW
The Challenge
Ileana Schinder, a residential architect based in Washington DC, had an outdated website that failed to communicate the quality and sophistication of her work. The site didn't reflect her brand, made it hard for potential clients to evaluate her portfolio, and wasn't generating the leads her reputation deserved. The project required a complete redesign — from visual identity and user experience through to custom code implementation in WordPress — to create a site that matched the precision and elegance of her architecture.
My Approach
I was both designer and developer on this project, as part of the Bits Kingdom team. After a discovery phase on her clients, competitors and brand, I designed a photography-first interface in Figma. Then I built it as a custom WordPress theme from scratch, with no page builder.
12
theme templates
PROCESS
How I got there
Discovery
Analyzed Ileana's existing portfolio, researched her competition, and identified her target client profile. Defined a photography-first design direction with clean, architectural typography to mirror the precision of her work.
UI Design
Created wireframes and full high-fidelity mockups in Figma. Built a refined design system with a minimal color palette, considered spacing, and typographic hierarchy that guides visitors through the portfolio naturally.
Development
Built a custom WordPress theme from scratch, with no page builder. Templates in PHP, styles and interactions in hand-written CSS and JavaScript. Portfolio projects as a custom content type with their own fields, so adding a project is filling out a form. Responsive from the first template, and structured so content updates need no developer.
Launch & QA
Ran cross-browser and cross-device testing. Collaborated with Ileana on final content, imagery selection, and copy — then launched the live site at ileanaschinder.com.
DESIGN
The Design
Let's work together.
Have a project in mind? I'd love to hear about it.