This project felt like taking the “agency-level polish” we already had and re-tuning it for a different mood — more campus, more structure, more guidance — like turning a sleek showroom into a place where people actually learn.
Context
NFS Academy is the training and education side of New Faces & Stars, focused on developing talent through an academy-style experience. Unlike the main agency site—where credibility and brand positioning do a lot of the heavy lifting—an academy website has a more “college-like” job:
it needs to explain programs clearly, make the learning path feel tangible, and answer practical questions before a student even thinks about applying. The UI/UX had to support decision-making (What is this? Is it for me? How does it work? What do I do next?) while still staying aligned with the parent brand.
Overview
I worked on the UI and UX design for the NFS Academy website as an iteration of the New Faces & Stars design system, adapted to fit an education-first experience. The focus was on building a layout and navigation that feels familiar to academic sites: clear program presentation, structured content blocks, scannable sections, and an information hierarchy that prioritizes clarity over aesthetics alone. Even though the final developed version followed the broader NFS direction, this design received an honorable mention for how well it translated the brand into a structured learning environment.
Challenge
The key challenge was balancing brand consistency with a different user mindset. Students and parents browse differently than fashion clients: they look for structure, reassurance, and specifics.
That meant the UX needed more guidance, more “what happens next” clarity, and less ambiguity — while avoiding the usual cold, institutional feel that many academy sites fall into.
Solution
I applied an education-oriented UX approach: tighter information architecture, program-first layouts, and UI patterns that support scanning (modules, sections, outcomes, requirements). The design emphasized predictable navigation and clearer conversion paths, helping users understand the offering faster and move confidently from exploration to inquiry/application.