University of Oklahoma: Crimson Design System
Design & Documentation
Enhanced the University of Oklahoma’s digital portal experience, creating a more intuitive interface for students and faculty and implementing a design system to ensure consistency and maintainability.
Client
The University of Oklahoma
Services
Visual Design UI & UX Design
Industries
Ed-Tech
Date
2018-2019
Overview
As part of Oklahoma University’s digital transformation, I helped lead the effort to design and implement a unified design system and product language—Crimson—to bring consistency, accessibility, and scalability to the university’s growing ecosystem of digital products.
Crimson became the foundation for a cohesive digital identity across multiple campuses, departments, and platforms serving hundreds of thousands of students, faculty, and staff—bridging the university’s long-standing heritage with its modern digital presence.
Problem
Oklahoma University’s digital ecosystem had evolved over time without a shared visual or experiential framework. As a result, digital products and sites across campuses varied widely in design, tone, and accessibility.
This fragmentation caused
Visual inconsistency that weakened the university’s prestigious brand identity and recognition.
Duplicated design and engineering work, slowing delivery and innovation.
Accessibility and scalability challenges, particularly as new technology platforms emerged.
Without a unified design system, OU’s digital presence did not reflect the integrity, tradition, and excellence that define the university’s legacy.
Strategy
Our mission was to create a design system that honored the legacy of Oklahoma University while empowering modern, scalable digital experiences.
To achieve that, we focused on three guiding principles:
Preserve brand heritage — translate OU’s iconic visual identity and sense of tradition into a contemporary, digital form.
Establish a unified design language that would scale across academic and administrative platforms while staying true to OU’s values.
Empower teams with a flexible, documented system to build consistent, accessible, and authentic digital experiences at scale.
Crimson was envisioned not just as a design toolkit—but as a living extension of OU’s legacy and spirit of excellence in the digital era.
Approach
I led the design and definition of Crimson alongside product and engineering teams, helping architect the system, validate its patterns, and establish processes for long-term governance and evolution.
Key responsibilities included:
Audit & alignment — conducted a comprehensive UI and brand audit across major products and websites.
System architecture — built foundational design tokens and accessibility guidelines aligned with OU’s brand standards.
Component design — crafted modular components for flexibility and consistency across use cases.
Cross-functional collaboration — partnered closely with engineering to ensure seamless handoff and scalability.
Documentation & education — authored usage guidance and led workshops to drive adoption across teams.
Evangelism — advocated for the design system’s value to leadership and stakeholders, helping secure long-term investment and adoption.
Solution
Crimson unified Oklahoma University’s digital ecosystem under a single, flexible, and enduring design language.
It introduced:
A cohesive component library that ensured consistency across products while reducing design and development time.
A modern visual identity that paid homage to OU’s legacy through its use of color, typography, and hierarchy—modernizing the Crimson brand without losing its roots.
Scalable design tokens that made the system adaptable across light/dark modes, device types, and future platforms.
Comprehensive documentation and governance models to support long-term sustainability.
By grounding the system in OU’s tradition of academic excellence and community identity, Crimson established a foundation that honors the past while shaping the university’s digital future.
Impact
Crimson became a cornerstone of Oklahoma University’s digital strategy—standardizing design across platforms, improving accessibility, and reducing redundancy across teams.
Its impact extended beyond design efficiency: it created a shared language between designers, developers, and stakeholders, and reinforced the university’s digital expression as one cohesive voice rooted in OU’s legacy.
Today, Crimson continues to evolve as the university’s digital design standard, carrying forward the heritage, pride, and visual integrity of Oklahoma University into every new product and experience.
