# Anne Newgarden Case Study — Carter Steinhoff > Anne Newgarden case study: an author website redesigned and rebuilt with Next.js, React, TypeScript, static editorial content, and Vercel. - Carter's role: Product design, content migration & development - System: Next.js 16 · React 19 · TypeScript · Tailwind CSS 4 · Vercel - Status: The redesign is deployed on Vercel; the original WordPress site remains on annenewgarden.com - [View redesign](https://annenewgarden.vercel.app/) ## Overview A long-running author archive reorganized around the work readers need now. Anne Newgarden’s WordPress site held books, essays, appearances, Soul Salon material, news, events, and resources without a clear path through them. I redesigned the information architecture and visual system, then migrated the reviewed content into a version-controlled Next.js site. The central challenge was editorial: make current work easy to find while preserving years of published material, familiar URLs, and the distinction between verified source material and unresolved claims. ## Project story ### Archive: Readers needed a clearer way into years of work. Readers arriving for a book, current event, Soul Salon, or practitioner resource met many years of material at once. The site needed a clearer front door without treating older work as disposable. ### Integrity: A redesign could not rewrite the record. Books, essays, events, and health-related accounts had to stay faithful to reviewed sources. Familiar paths and search value mattered; inactive features could not return as empty controls. ### Rebuild: Organize the archive first, then simplify the system. I grouped the archive around current work, books, writing, events, and the directory, then gave each collection a clearer destination while preserving legacy paths into the new structure. ## Decisions ### Authentic source material stays distinct from generated art Portraits, book covers, and documentary images use reviewed source material. A disclosed paper-sculpture motif appears only where no authentic image exists, including site-level share cards, and never depicts a named person or reported event as evidence. ### Conflicting sources stayed conflicted Conflicting source claims remained unresolved rather than being averaged into false certainty. Personal and health-related accounts stay attributed to the speaker. ### Static by default, with one authorized exception The inactive newsletter was removed rather than reproduced as a false control. Contact remains the single server-side path and reports success only after the delivery service accepts the message. ## Architecture A static editorial system with no runtime CMS. The rebuild turns migrated publishing content into pre-generated pages, keeping the public experience fast, portable, and easy to reason about while preserving the depth of the archive. - **Experience:** Next.js 16 App Router, React 19, TypeScript, and Tailwind CSS 4 - **Publishing:** Version-controlled books, blog, news, events, and directory content - **Delivery:** Static Vercel export with metadata, sitemap, robots, redirects, and headers - **Quality:** Biome, Vitest, Playwright, and Axe accessibility checks ## Technology and delivery A static publishing stack with one deliberate exception. Next.js turns version-controlled editorial content into a complete static site; Vercel delivers it, while the contact path alone uses a server-side email service. ### Editorial experience - **nextjs:** Static App Router pages and metadata - **react:** Reusable editorial components - **typescript:** Typed books, articles, events, and directory data - **tailwind:** Responsive visual and typography system ### Delivery - **vercel:** Static hosting, redirects, and deployment - **resend:** Server-side delivery for the contact exception ## What Carter owned - Editorial product direction, information architecture, and responsive visual system - Migration of books, long-form articles, news, events, and directory content - Next.js App Router architecture with version-controlled static publishing - Metadata, structured data, legacy redirects, accessibility testing, and Vercel delivery ## Selected screens - **Editorial homepage:** A simplified opening frame gives Anne’s voice, portrait, books, and Soul Salon a clear hierarchy. [Image](https://cartersteinhoff.co/images/anne-newgarden-project.webp) — Anne Newgarden redesign homepage with author portrait, editorial headline, and book and Soul Salon actions - **Books:** A visual books destination separates the catalog from the author story and gives each title room to lead. [Image](https://cartersteinhoff.co/images/anne-newgarden-books.webp) — Anne Newgarden books page with an editorial headline and two book covers - **Resource directory:** Migrated recommendations become a concise, scannable directory instead of another long-form page. [Image](https://cartersteinhoff.co/images/anne-newgarden-directory.webp) — Anne Newgarden directory page listing practitioners, specialties, and websites in a structured table - **Soul Salon:** The recurring gathering receives its own focused story, invitation, and visual identity. [Image](https://cartersteinhoff.co/images/anne-newgarden-soul-salon.webp) — Anne Newgarden Soul Salon page with an editorial introduction and online gathering artwork - **Author story:** A quieter biography page connects Anne’s curiosity, writing, and lived experience. [Image](https://cartersteinhoff.co/images/anne-newgarden-about.webp) — Anne Newgarden About page headed A writer led by curiosity with author photograph and biographical sections - **Writing archive:** The migrated journal receives an editorial index with a direct path into long-form entries. [Image](https://cartersteinhoff.co/images/anne-newgarden-blog.webp) — Anne Newgarden Blog page headed Notes from an unfinished conversation with featured article imagery ## Current status The redesigned experience is publicly available on Vercel while annenewgarden.com continues to serve the original WordPress site pending domain cutover. - [Back to all case studies](https://cartersteinhoff.co/portfolio/index.md) - [Discuss a similar project](https://cartersteinhoff.co/contact/index.md)