Serena Zhang
All selected work
GitHub Education

A new language for learning

Connecting education programs through clearer navigation and a visual language aligned with GitHub’s brand.

My role
Design lead · UI/UX · Art direction
Team
PM, engineering lead, illustrator
Scope
Site structure and program-page concepts

Website design · Information architecture · Art direction

Marketing composition based on selected interface designs. Original design work is presented below.
The design challenge

Connect the offering.
Give it a shared language.

GitHub Education’s website had confusing navigation, dated visual content, and inconsistent experiences across pages. I restructured the sitemap, developed page designs, and guided the illustration direction.

I worked with a project manager, an engineering lead, and an illustrator. My contribution connects information architecture, UI/UX, and art direction.

01 / Site planning

Design the relationships
before the pages.

Navigation and page structure were considered alongside content and visual direction, so education programs could feel connected.

Existing structure
Original site-planning diagram
Proposed structure
Original structure rethink
Design rationale

Bring the education offering into an understandable structure, then use that structure to guide the page experience.

02 / Art direction

A visual system
that belongs to the experience.

Original collaborative illustration exploration
A shared vocabulary

Characters.
Geometry.
Learning metaphors.

A consistent family of forms creates recognition across programs. Individual pages can emphasize different content while sharing a visual language.

Illustrations were developed with an illustrator. My contribution covered direction and integration into the website.

Design decision

Bring the product into the visual story.

Interface imagery, characters, and geometric environments were explored together. The illustration direction carries the product context into the marketing experience, rather than existing as a separate decoration.

Original exploration · Interface and illustration together
Explore the visual-direction studiesView original designs
Education program illustration exploration
Classroom illustration direction
Education verification page concept
03 / Website design

Carry the system
across the program pages.

Original page concepts show how content hierarchy, illustration, and calls to action work together.

Student experience
Original webpage excerpt · Student Developer Pack
Content meets visual direction

The page tells
one connected story.

The hero introduces the program, the following section explains its purpose, and cards organize ways to participate. The same visual vocabulary continues through the content.

Educators
Original webpage excerpt · Classroom
Partners
Original webpage excerpt · Partnerships
01

A recognizable entry

Shared navigation and clear hero hierarchy connect the pages.

02

Program-specific emphasis

The visual language adapts to classroom, partner, and student content.

03

A structured next step

Content groups and calls to action make the offering easier to navigate.

View the complete page conceptsView original designs
Complete Classroom marketing page concept
Complete partner page concept
Complete student page concept
04 / The direction in use

A contribution that
continued to evolve.

Elements of this illustration direction can be seen on the current GitHub Education site, including corresponding characters and geometric forms in the partner section. The explorations here document my contribution; the website has continued to evolve beyond this work.

Visit GitHub Education ↗

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