# Design skeleton — fromphdtolife.com

## 1. Brand DNA

### Business
- **Name:** Jen Polk / From PhD to Life
- **What they do, for whom, where:** Career coach helping professors, postdocs, and other PhDs figure out what they actually want next in their careers and build a thoughtful strategy for getting there; based in Canada, working across Canada, the United States, and internationally.
- **Offers:** 1-on-1 Consultation (Career Clarity & Strategy Sessions), Free Webinar (How to Get a Great Job Outside Academia), PhD Career Clarity Program (six-month structured program), Workshops and Speaking (for universities and professional organizations).
- **The one action this page exists to cause:** Prompt the visitor to choose their next step: watch the free webinar, join the PhD Career Clarity Program, or book a 1-on-1 consultation / reach out by email.
- **Contact and socials:** Email: Jen@FromPhDToLife.com; Newsletter: https://subscribe.fromphdtolife.com/; Socials: LinkedIn, YouTube, Bluesky, Facebook, Twitter.

### Brand
- **Colours:** Pin Green (#00BD9D), Pin Blue (#1DA1F2), Path Grey (#A6A6A6), Ink Black (#000000), Warm Paper (#FBF9F5), Soft Sand (#F4F1EB), Deep Charcoal (#111015).
- **Fonts:** Display: Warm literary serif with academic poise; Body: Clean, modern humanist sans-serif with high readability.
- **Logo:** The From PhD to Life wordmark on a transparent ground featuring 'From PhD to Life' on two lines in heavy black geometric lettering with a grey dashed path looping from a green map pin above left to a blue map pin below right (`assets/logo.webp`), and the standalone pin-path device icon (`assets/logo-icon.webp`).

### Assets
| file | subject | px | luminance | dominant colours | plain backdrop | full-bleed at 1440 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| `assets/logo.webp` | logo wordmark | 995x613 | 0.040 | #000000, #1ca0f1, #a4a4a4 | yes | no |
| `assets/portrait-01.webp` | Jen laughing in courtyard | 2305x1728 | 0.548 | #f4f1eb, #525f2c, #232719 | no | yes |
| `assets/portrait-02.webp` | Jen portrait with baked speech bubbles | 1080x1080 | 0.665 | #f6f2f2, #111015, #dda7a9 | yes | no |
| `assets/work-01.webp` | academic book stacks and legs | 1024x614 | 0.619 | #d6b596, #e0c7ac, #dfdfd5 | no | no |
| `assets/work-02.webp` | PhD Career Clarity Program multi-device collage | 1920x768 | 0.555 | #f2f3f4, #01bb9c, #090c0c | yes | yes |
| `assets/work-03.webp` | over-the-shoulder video call with Jen | 1350x900 | 0.487 | #201e20, #a4a29f, #e8dfde | no | no |
| `assets/logo-icon.webp` | map pin icon mark | 192x192 | 0.121 | #000000, #1ca1f2, #a6a6a6 | yes | no |

## 2. Art direction

- **Concept:** From Academic Weight to Open Possibility — a transition from formal scholarly inertia into warm, spacious, and grounded clarity.
- **Palette:** Ground: Warm Paper (#FBF9F5) and crisp Deep Charcoal (#111015); Ink: Deep Charcoal (#111015) and Slate Grey (#4A4A4A); Accent: Pin Green (#00BD9D), Pin Blue (#1DA1F2), and Soft Sand (#F4F1EB).
- **Type:** Display: Freight Text / Garamond-inspired literary serif for reflective weight; Body: Inter / Neue Haas Grotesk for direct, clear, pragmatic communication; The one typographic move: one italic word in primary section leads to emphasize human inflection.
- **Image language:** Matted and plated compositions with generous borders and precise editorial crops, preserving authentic environments and original baked elements.
- **Motion language:** Scroll reveal for narrative pacing; sequenced text for the hero proposition; hover states on interactive cards, text links, and buttons.
- **Layout habits:** Side-by-side asymmetric pairings with generous white space, distinct full-width tonal grounding shifts between reflective and structured sections, and structured vertical lists with editorial numbering.

## 3. Story

| # | beat | job | copy | asset | seam to next |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | nav | Orient the visitor and provide direct access to pathways and contact | WHAT I DO | `assets/logo.webp` | cut |
| 2 | hero | Announce Jen's practice and reassure PhDs that meaningful careers exist beyond academia | WHAT I DO | `assets/portrait-01.webp` | ground change |
| 3 | positioning | Articulate the exact lived emotional turning point of academics caught between past and future | WHO I WORK WITH | `assets/work-01.webp` | ground change |
| 4 | about | Introduce Jen's own transition story and her facilitation philosophy | MY STORY | `assets/portrait-02.webp` | cut |
| 5 | process | Dismantle the resume myth and demonstrate the real clarity work required | WHAT I THINK THE REAL PROBLEM IS, HOW I WORK | `assets/work-03.webp` | ground change |
| 6 | proof | Establish a decade of recognized expertise, university speaking, and published authority | MY BACKGROUND, WHY I DO THIS WORK | `assets/logo-icon.webp` | cut |
| 7 | offer | Present the four structured avenues to work together clearly and decisively | WAYS TO WORK WITH ME, WHO IT'S FOR | `assets/work-02.webp` | ground change |
| 8 | cta | Provide immediate, frictionless ways to get started, join the list, or write to Jen | HOW TO REACH ME | none | cut |
| 9 | footer | Close with persistent brand mark, social channels, and institutional sign-off | HOW TO REACH ME | `assets/logo.webp` | none |

## 4. Section specs

### 4.1 Nav
- **Layout pattern:** hung from an edge
- **Ingredients:** Brand logo mark, jump navigation links (About, Approach, Ways to Work, Free Webinar), and direct email consultation link button.
- **Asset and tool:** `assets/logo.webp`, resize (220px width).
- **Motion:** hover states on text links and primary contact button.
- **Copy:** WHAT I DO

### 4.2 Hero
- **Layout pattern:** side-by-side
- **Ingredients:** Large narrative headline, grounding sub-copy outlining who she helps and what she does, twin action buttons for webinar and consultation, paired alongside a spacious editorial portrait.
- **Asset and tool:** `assets/portrait-01.webp`, crop (4:5 vertical balance), resize (900px width).
- **Motion:** sequenced text on the opening headline, scroll reveal on supporting copy and action buttons.
- **Copy:** WHAT I DO

### 4.3 Positioning
- **Layout pattern:** plate on ground
- **Ingredients:** Editorial headline, relatable quoted internal thoughts of academics at a turning point, the narrative vignette of the LinkedIn title hover, and an evocative plated photograph of academic books and footwear.
- **Asset and tool:** `assets/work-01.webp`, plated with a subtle keyline frame, resize (840px width).
- **Motion:** scroll reveal on quotes and text column, hover states on interactive cards.
- **Copy:** WHO I WORK WITH

### 4.4 About
- **Layout pattern:** side-by-side
- **Ingredients:** First-person narrative of Jen's transition from U of T history PhD to starting From PhD to Life in 2013, paired with the speech-bubble cut-out portrait placed neatly within an offset framed container.
- **Asset and tool:** `assets/portrait-02.webp`, plated on a light neutral canvas, resize (480px width).
- **Motion:** scroll reveal on biography paragraphs, hover states on link references.
- **Copy:** MY STORY

### 4.5 Process
- **Layout pattern:** side-by-side
- **Ingredients:** Core conceptual breakdown comparing external tactical fixes (resumes, LinkedIn) against internal clarity, bulleted list of 5 focal areas, reflective life questions, and a candid over-the-shoulder video session photograph.
- **Asset and tool:** `assets/work-03.webp`, matted with a clean border, resize (720px width).
- **Motion:** scroll reveal staggered across bullet points and callout questions.
- **Copy:** WHAT I THINK THE REAL PROBLEM IS, HOW I WORK

### 4.6 Proof
- **Layout pattern:** stacked column
- **Ingredients:** Summary of over a decade of coaching since 2013, Canadian Council of Academies report advisory, list of publication outlets (Inside Higher Ed, Chronicle, Globe and Mail), grounded by the brand's signature path mark and purpose statement.
- **Asset and tool:** `assets/logo-icon.webp`, resize (80px width).
- **Motion:** scroll reveal on credential blocks and publication lists.
- **Copy:** MY BACKGROUND, WHY I DO THIS WORK

### 4.7 Offer
- **Layout pattern:** stacked column
- **Ingredients:** Comprehensive 4-card offer architecture (1-on-1 Consultation, Free Webinar, PhD Career Clarity Program, Workshops & Speaking), target audience parameters, direct enrollment links for the 6-month program, and the multi-device program visual.
- **Asset and tool:** `assets/work-02.webp`, resize (1200px width), plated with clean margins.
- **Motion:** scroll reveal across offer cards, hover states on course enrollment and webinar registration buttons.
- **Copy:** WAYS TO WORK WITH ME, WHO IT'S FOR

### 4.8 CTA
- **Layout pattern:** plate on ground
- **Ingredients:** High-contrast invitation box emphasizing the three distinct next steps: watch the free webinar, join the PhD Career Clarity Program, or email Jen directly to ask questions.
- **Asset and tool:** none.
- **Motion:** scroll reveal on container entrance, hover states on email link and button elements.
- **Copy:** HOW TO REACH ME

### 4.9 Footer
- **Layout pattern:** split
- **Ingredients:** Wordmark logo, newsletter subscription callout link, full list of social media destinations (LinkedIn, YouTube, Bluesky, Facebook, Twitter), copyright notice, and location note.
- **Asset and tool:** `assets/logo.webp`, resize (180px width).
- **Motion:** hover states on social links and email subscription button.
- **Copy:** HOW TO REACH ME