SpiritualInnovation.org (Sacred Design Lab)
Sacred Design Lab explores the changing landscape of community and spiritual life. Born from research at Harvard Divinity School, they work with divinely restless, intellectually curious, and entrepreneurially practical leaders to design the spiritual infrastructure of the future. They created SpiritualInnovation.org, a digital platform connecting spiritual innovators with resources, mentors, and community through videos, articles, podcasts, toolkits, and a directory of practitioners doing similar work, all organized around user journeys rather than topics.
The TL;DR
A research-backed platform giving modern spiritual leaders the tools, guidance, and community they need to build meaningful spiritual life today. See how we built it!
The Challenge
How do you organize hundreds of resources so people can actually find what they need?
Sacred Design Lab wanted a digital platform for spiritual innovation. A resource hub that would serve practitioners, researchers, and community leaders, each at different stages of their journey.
The content existed. The organization didn't.
Most platforms dump everything into categories and hope users find what they need. That approach fails. People give up when they can't quickly answer: "Is this for me?" Sacred Design Lab also wanted interactive navigation. Something that would guide users based on where they were in their journey, not just what topic interested them.
Angie Thurston, Executive Director, wanted something "genuinely useful to the field." Not a digital brochure.
The Journey
Creating a visual language
Sacred Design Lab's existing brand had pieces but no system. They needed something vibrant that reflected diverse spiritual traditions without looking like it belonged to any single one.
We built a new palette that built from their original palette: deep purple, bright orange, teal. Bold blocks that could stand alone or combine. Energetic without being aggressive.
For illustrations, we commissioned custom linocut-style graphics from illustrator Ailen Alvarez. Pathways. Hands reaching. Abstract patterns suggesting journey and connection. Our Head of Design worked with the illustrator to ensure every piece worked standalone or as part of larger compositions.
Mapping content to user needs in the technical build and design
Sacred Design Lab identified nine pathways.
We tagged every resource to these pathways. A podcast about community building got tagged "Building Your Project." A funding case study got "Figure Out Funding." Some resources applied to multiple pathways.
Then we built the filtering system. Users could filter by pathway. By format. By keyword. Or combine all three. The system had to handle someone looking for videos about strategic planning in the "Building Your Project" pathway without showing zero results.
We integrated Webflow with Airtable using WhaleSync. Airtable held the resource metadata. Webflow displayed it. Two-way sync meant updates flow in both directions, the Sacred Design Lab team manages everything through Airtable, changes appear instantly on the site.The question: could we make complex filtering feel simple?
Mapping content to user needs in the technical build and design
Sacred Design Lab identified nine pathways.
We tagged every resource to these pathways. A podcast about community building got tagged "Building Your Project." A funding case study got "Figure Out Funding." Some resources applied to multiple pathways.
Then we built the filtering system. Users could filter by pathway. By format. By keyword. Or combine all three. The system had to handle someone looking for videos about strategic planning in the "Building Your Project" pathway without showing zero results.
We integrated Webflow with Airtable using WhaleSync. Airtable held the resource metadata. Webflow displayed it. Two-way sync meant updates flow in both directions, the Sacred Design Lab team manages everything through Airtable, changes appear instantly on the site.The question: could we make complex filtering feel simple?
The Solution
A platform that scales personal connection and support
Hundreds of people told us at launch that something worked. But the real test was whether spiritual innovators could find each other without Sacred Design Lab in the middle.
The directory became the answer. Innovators submit their profiles through a form. Sacred Design Lab reviews and approves. Profiles appear automatically, tagged with the same pathway system as the resources.
Looking for a Buddhist practitioner in the Bay Area working on funding models? The directory surfaces them. The filtering works the same way as the resource library—by tradition, location, type of work, and pathway needs.
We built the onboarding flow to ask: what do you need help with? What would you like to offer? The platform uses those answers to recommend connections. Someone seeking relational support doesn't see random profiles. They see people whose work aligns with their needs.
The system removed Sacred Design Lab as the required intermediary while keeping quality control. Connections happen directly. The community grows itself.
A library that scales
Users self-identify their needs. The platform surfaces relevant content immediately. No scrolling through irrelevant resources. No guessing if something matches their experience level.
Each resource card shows format, pathway tags, and a short description. Enough to decide if it's worth clicking. Not so much that cards overwhelm.
The system scales. Sacred Design Lab adds content monthly. New resources get tagged. They appear in filtered searches automatically. The Airtable-Webflow sync means updates flow both directions.
Portals into new paths
The homepage grid presents nine entry points. Bold typography. Distinct colors. Each paired with one of Ailen's portal illustrations—arches, thresholds, passages showing depth and movement.Click "Get Help When It’s Hard" and you enter that pathway. The page opens with accompaniment copy that validates where you are: we see you, this is hard, you're not alone. Below that, curated resources tagged to that specific need. Below that, the full filterable library.
The portal metaphor solved the prescription problem. We weren't asking users to self-identify their "stage" or "role." We offered thresholds. You choose which one to walk through based on where you are right now. Next month, you might enter through a different portal. The system doesn't lock you into an identity.
Each pathway uses a different portal and color combination. The visual system creates coherence across hundreds of pages without feeling repetitive.
Hear What Our Client Has To Say
THANK YOU KYLE for everything you've done to get us to launch day! We have a gorgeous, functional new website that we are so excited to share with the world, and that I think will be genuinely useful to the field.
FAQs
Sacred Design Lab is an organization at the intersection of spirituality, innovation, and design — exploring how contemplative practices and meaning-making can be integrated into modern institutions, organizations, and design processes.
Slam Media Lab (slammedialab.com) provided brand and digital communications services to Sacred Design Lab — helping them articulate a nuanced mission at the intersection of spirituality and institutional innovation to a diverse audience of practitioners, funders, and thought leaders.
This type of organization requires marketing that respects intellectual rigor while remaining accessible. Lead with the practical applications and outcomes of the work (what does an organization look like after working with you?) before introducing the philosophical framework. Specificity about methods and case examples builds credibility.
Thought leadership essays, practitioner interviews, research and frameworks presented accessibly, multimedia content (podcast, video) that conveys depth and nuance, and an email list for an audience that values depth over volume. These audiences respond to quality and originality over quantity and SEO optimization alone.
Yes. Slam Media Lab (slammedialab.com) has worked with organizations across the full spectrum of mission-driven work, including those whose missions require careful, nuanced communication to specialized audiences — developing brand and content strategies that honor the organization's depth. +++
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