Building a Digital Home for Islamic Thought and Research
A research institution needed a modern platform to publish their work, promote events, and build an audience. We built one that signals academic authority.
Sector
Education / Research
Year
2024
Timeline
6 weeks
The brief
Siyar Institute is a research organisation focused on Islamic political thought and discourse. They produce high-quality academic work — papers, essays, event recordings — but it was all trapped in PDFs, email attachments, and social media posts. There was no central platform where their audience could discover, read, and engage with the work.
- Publications scattered across PDFs, email attachments, and social media
- No central website — no discoverability through search engines
- Events announced only through WhatsApp groups and email chains
- Team and scholar profiles existed nowhere publicly
- No newsletter — no way to build and retain an audience
- Academic credibility not reflected in any digital presence
Our approach
This wasn't just a website — it was about giving an institution a digital identity. The design had to signal academic authority without being dry or inaccessible. The content architecture needed to make years of publications browsable and discoverable. And the whole thing needed to be maintainable by a non-technical team.
What we built
- 01
Publication Archive
A structured, searchable archive of all publications — papers, essays, commentaries. Each publication gets its own page with proper metadata, categories, and related content links. Designed so years of future publications can be added without restructuring.
- 02
Event Platform
Event listing pages with dates, speakers, descriptions, and registration links. Past events archived with recordings where available. Upcoming events prominently featured on the homepage.
- 03
Scholar & Team Profiles
Individual profile pages for each scholar and team member — biography, research interests, published works, and contact information. Gives the institution a human face and builds individual authority.
- 04
Design Language
The design balances academic gravitas with modern web standards. Clean typography, generous whitespace, structured layouts. Dark enough to feel serious, light enough to be readable. No flashy animations — the content is the hero. Every design decision was tested against one question: would a university professor share this link?
How it came together
- 01
Content Audit & Architecture
Catalogued every existing publication, event, and team member. Defined the content model and taxonomy. Designed the information architecture.
You get: Publication catalogue, Content taxonomy, Site architecture, Navigation design
- 02
Design System
Created a design language that signals academic authority — clean typography, structured layouts, restrained colour palette. Responsive across all devices.
You get: Typography system, Layout patterns, Component library, Responsive breakpoints
- 03
Build with Next.js
Server-side rendering for SEO. Publication pages, event pages, scholar profiles. Newsletter signup integration. Clean URLs for every piece of content.
You get: Next.js SSR, Publication pages, Event pages, Scholar profiles, Newsletter
- 04
Launch & Content Migration
Migrated all existing publications into the new system. Launched with SEO meta tags and structured data. Trained the team on content updates.
You get: Content migration, SEO setup, Structured data, Team training, Launch
The outcome
- Languages: English, Arabic, Indonesian and Urdu
- 4Languages: English, Arabic, Indonesian and Urdu
- Searchable home for every publication
- 1Searchable home for every publication
- Scholar with a profile page and published works
- EveryScholar with a profile page and published works
“They understood that a research institute needs to look credible, not flashy. The site communicates exactly what we do — publications, events, our scholars — in a way that feels authoritative. We’ve had academics reach out just because they found us online.”
Built with
Next.js · React · TypeScript · Tailwind CSS · Server Components
Want something similar?
Tell us about your project. We’ll reply by email with how we’d approach it, drawing on what we learned building for Siyar Institute.
What happens next
- 1
We reply by email with any questions that sharpen the brief.
- 2
A free 30-minute call to agree the goal, timeline and budget.
- 3
A written scope and price so you know what you’re paying for before any work starts.
Unit 21, 384 Abbott Road, London E14 0UX
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