Introduction

Client: Sophie Vo, founder of Rise and Play and ORIN.
Timeline: 2 months
Tools: Webflow, Zapier, Google reCAPTCHA, Squoosh, ChatGPT
Template Base: Bellarn Webflow Template

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Sophie wanted a website that felt less like a brochure and more like a journey — where visitors could sense transformation before reading a word.

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The challenge: merging emotion with structure.
She came with strong branding, retreat slide decks, and a clear vision. My role was to translate that into a website that feels alive — elegant interactions, intuitive CMS, and SEO foundation that grows with her brand.

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About the Project

Using the Bellarn template as a base, I restructured the UX and built a scalable CMS that connects Retreats, Journeys, and Destinations into one unified content system.
Each section can be updated independently by Sophie through Webflow’s Editor — from new programs to upcoming retreats.

The goal was not just functionality, but feeling.
Every scroll and interaction guides the visitor like an inner journey — calm, feminine, grounded.

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Architecture & Key Decisions

• Single CMS powers both Retreats & Journeys.
  Journeys show pricing; past retreats (without a registration link) are hidden from the Journeys page automatically.
• Destinations CMS powers retreat locations and galleries dynamically.
• Order field for sorting retreats chronologically (#1 = newest).
• Global banner editable from the Designer/Editor.
• Legal hub consolidating privacy, terms, and imprint pages.
• Optimized images — every photo resized and compressed before upload.
• Conditional visibility for empty CMS fields (e.g., no gallery = no “No items found” message).

Motion & UX Details

The hero section is where art meets patience.
The original template looked stunning — but most users didn’t realize they had to scroll.
So I designed a subtle motion cue: an animated arrow and text, “Start the Journey.”

Sounds simple. Took hours.
Each breakpoint required separate tuning so nothing broke the hero animation sequence.

Additional refinements:

• Parallax motion on hero and section visuals.
• Simplified mobile sliders (no navigation arrows).
• Scroll-based triggers for soft fades and reveals.
• ReCAPTCHA integration and form debugging for reliable submissions.

Basic SEO & AEO Setup

From day one, I built the site for discoverability — both for Google and AI Search.

Key actions:
✓ On-site SEO for all pages (titles under 60 chars, meta descriptions under 160).
✓ Clean heading hierarchy with descriptive copy and internal linking.
✓ Alt-text for all media and accessible structure for screen readers.
✓ Early AEO setup (Answer Engine Optimization) — clear semantic content and schema-ready layout.

Next steps I recommended to Sophie:

• Add FAQ sections for key pages (boosts AI Overview presence).
• Implement structured data (Organization, FAQ, Article schema).
• Automate form-to-CRM workflows and newsletter integration.

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Results & Learnings

Every website is a system of trust, clarity, and motion.

Main takeaways from ORIN:

• The final stretch is always the hardest — the last 3 days took 60% of the work.
• Pretty ≠ clear. Clarity wins every time.
• One CMS, done right, beats three messy ones.
• Compress your images (this rule now lives rent-free in my mind).
• Communication is UX. Half my job was translating emotions into logical flows.
• Working with Sophie was effortless. When both sides understand flow — technical and energetic — the result feels natural.

Client Testimonial

“Magda was the best co-parent I could ever dream of for the birth of my new ORIN website. I previously tried to build it with AI, and something was deeply missing — the soul. When two creative souls come together, magic happens. I highly recommend Magda if you need a new website.”
‍— Sophie Vo, Founder of ORIN & Rise and Play