← All work

Cornerstone Community Church

A website redesign for a church in Aurora, Colorado. I designed and built it by hand in Squarespace in March and April 2025, and it is still the live site.

Built by hand, without AI assistance. Codex and Claude write much of the code in my product work. This project is different: I learned Squarespace for it, and every layout, component, and page is my own work.

Before and after

The old site survives in the Internet Archive, last captured on 22 March 2025. View the archived page, then compare it with the live site. Side-by-side comparisons are in the DevLookForward gallery.

What changed

  • The first screen now answers when and where: the service time, the street address, and a way to schedule a visit, instead of a stock photo and a seasonal banner.
  • Navigation moved from six items built around individual ministries to eight covering the church as a whole, with its social links in the header.
  • A new visual identity: a shield logo, serif headings, a cream and brown palette, and new photography of the church.
  • On phones, the first screen shows the welcome, service time, and address rather than a full-screen photo.

My role

I learned Squarespace for this project and did all of the design and build myself, without AI tools: the page structure and navigation, custom layouts and reusable components, the mobile layouts, and supporting graphics. I interviewed the pastors to write the leadership pages, photographed the church, and reused the usable images from the old site.

I also compared online giving platforms and recommended Tithely over Pushpay and Ministry Brands Amplify: comparable transaction fees and no subscription fee.

What I checked

  • Internet ArchiveThe old design is archived from January 2024 to 22 March 2025. There is no archived capture of the new design.
  • Live sitemapPage modification dates fall between 31 March and 21 April 2025, which matches the launch window.
  • Live siteThe redesign is still the site visitors see.

What this page does not claim

  • Search ranking. Since launch I have seen the site as the top Google result for the church's name; that is my own observation, not an independent ranking measurement.
  • Visitor, attendance, or giving numbers. None were measured for this page.