THE SITE
Trina Moyles is an author, journalist, and creative producer whose work is inspired by rural communities and our relationships with land, wildlife, food security, and climate change. Katie was commissioned to design and launch Trina’s portfolio website with the goal of elevating her body of work while creating an intuitive, engaging user experience.
While highlighting Trina’s accolades and published work was a priority, equal consideration was given to her future, building a flexible platform that could grow alongside her evolving practice. Alongside beautifully crafted narratives showcasing her books and research, a new editorial vertical, Field Notes, was introduced to offer a more personal, behind-the-scenes look at her day-to-day life and creative process.
The result is a site that reflects years of thoughtful work while leaving room for what’s next.
Creative Director
Principle Visual Designer
UX/UI Designer
Brand development
Web development
METHOD
software
DATE
April 2023 - present
type
ROLE
Squarespace
Lightroom
Photoshop
Illustrator
Procreate
Concept
UX/UI
Art direction
Graphic design
continue reading
ˇ
Brand system
WORDMARK
Selected for its clarity and versatility, the typeface lends a confident, editorial tone without competing with the content.
color palette
Inspired by Trina’s photography and the elemental landscapes of the Yukon, the palette draws from natural, muted tones—allowing imagery and storytelling to lead while grounding the site in place.
PRIMARY TYPEFACE
Minerva Modern is used for headlines, calls to action, and pull quotes, providing strong visual hierarchy and a clear, contemporary voice across key moments of the site.
SECONDARY TYPEFACE
Anziano supports long-form reading and editorial layouts, bringing warmth and readability to essays, blog entries, and extended narratives.
favicon
A custom binocular icon nods to Trina’s time as a lookout while reinforcing themes of observation, research, and reporting, capturing both past experience and present practice in a single mark.
the homepage
Designed with clarity and restraint, the homepage delivers information in a clean, concise way, introducing key features through considered “bites” of content as the user scrolls. The layout balances editorial storytelling with ease of navigation, allowing Trina’s work to unfold in a calm, intentional rhythm.
Her two published books were given clear visual priority. By keeping the surrounding layout minimal, focus remains on the artwork itself. Each title links to a dedicated editorial feature, offering a deeper dive into the book’s conception, research, and insider context.
Eighteen months post-launch, the homepage was refreshed to reflect Trina’s evolving body of work. The updated layout highlights recent projects and active writing, ensuring the site continues to feel current while maintaining the integrity of the original design system.
Above: Homepage evolution (October 2025)
Below: Original launch (April 2023)
BOOK PROFILE:
WOMEN WHO DIG
Trina’s inaugural non-fiction novel, Women who dig, was published in 2018 and is a body of work that is still growing today. Working alongside filmmaker Anna Kuelken, Trina is producing a documentary inspired by the Canadian chapter with a release date set in 2025. This page is dedicated to her novel and research, providing a behind the scenes look at the women she met, places she’s been, and where this body of work is going.
BOOK PROFILE:
lookout
Trina’s memoir Lookout won the hearts of many when she brought us into her world as a fire tower lookout in the Boreal forest. For such a deeply personal novel we made sure it had its own feature on her site. Incorporating some never before seen visuals, we also made sure to include other articles she wrote related to the subject.
BOOK PROFILE:
BLACK BEAR
For the January 2026 launch of Trina’s highly anticipated third novel, Black Bear, staying on theme to her other books, we developed a dedicated profile page. This page provided deeper insights in preparation for the book's release and Trina's media events. Black Bear, a memoir, takes readers back to the Fire Tower and introduces new and old characters.
Consistent with our website's mission to offer exclusive information, we included visual representations not only of the characters but also of the outpost's environment. Drawing inspiration from the cover art, I used Procreate to create a hand-drawn map showcasing all the locations mentioned throughout the Black Bear journey. This page serves as a perfect capstone and a true extension of the novel, reflecting all the hard work invested.
WORK
The ‘Work’ vertical offered a serendipitous opportunity to showcase Trina’s photographic eye. Each article featured will allow her to showcase her skills and creative perspective with this tailored customization.
field notes
Field Notes was conceived as an editorial extension of Trina’s practice, creating space for photography, storytelling, and the moments that happen between published work. Early conversations revealed a deep well of visual and experiential content tied to her research, travel, and community involvement; elements not yet represented on the site.
Launching this vertical allowed Trina to share behind-the-scenes narratives and personal observations, broadening the site beyond a traditional portfolio. To support ease of use and creative flexibility, three distinct templates were designed, enabling Trina to build and publish confidently from the front end.
Over the following eighteen months, Field Notes became an actively used space. Entries evolved into richer, long format experiences, reflecting both Trina’s growing comfort with the platform and the expanding scope of her work, ultimately prompting thoughtful layout refinements to better support this depth of content.