Stay Up Late and its flagship project Gig Buddies needed new websites that better reflected their brand, improved user experience, and made it easier to manage content. With limited budget and two separate sites running on outdated WordPress builds, the goal was to create a future-proof solution that improved performance, accessibility, lead generation, and volunteer sign-ups, while handling over 15 years of blog content.
WEB DESIGN | UX | STRATEGY | HEADLESS CMS
Stay Up Late & Gig Buddies
Supporting people with learning disabilities partying for their rights
The Brief
Our Approach
We began with a full discovery process, auditing the existing sites, reviewing brand assets, aligning with the team on goals, and diving into the competitor landscape. From there, we restructured the sitemap, overhauled the content, and created new designs that balanced consistency with distinct identities for each site.
Once designs were signed off, we moved into build. Initially planned in WordPress, it became clear after client-side changes that a simpler, more robust CMS was needed. Because this was a cause close to our hearts, we scrapped the near-finished WordPress sites and rebuilt them in our preferred headless CMS.
The build delivered a multi-site setup, with Stay Up Late and Gig Buddies running from one login. We integrated Stripe for donations and shop checkout, and when the client team went on unexpected paternity leave, we also took on full content population. Finally we also tackled the challenge of migrating 15 years of blog posts.
The Outcome
The result is a fast, accessible, and easy-to-manage multi-site CMS. Both sites now share a unified backbone with their own visual identities, improved UX, and clearer calls-to-action for volunteering, donating, and participation. The migration of extensive legacy content was successfully completed, and the new platform has given the charity a reliable, future-ready digital presence to support its mission and community.
Services provided: Design & Technical Discovery & Recommendations | Creative Workshops | UX Functionality | Creative Strategy & Direction | Website Design | Headless CMS | Website Development | Stripe checkout | Marketing Collateral | Optimisation | Migration and Redirects
Two sites, one login
Built on a headless CMS, the new multisite setup allows Stay Up Late and Gig Buddies to run from a single login. Shared content blocks streamline management, while unique designs give each site its own identity.
