This session demonstrated early iterations of the Pitchfork theme and the supporting plugin set we built for ASU Engineering. The demo showed how a branded theme, paired with Gutenberg patterns and carefully chosen plugins, can deliver consistent design while remaining flexible for editorial teams.
Event details
August 2022 — ASU Summer Marketing Camp
Summary
Why Pitchfork
Pitchfork was created to give ASU Engineering teams a consistent, brand-aligned foundation that content authors could use without needing deep theme knowledge. The goal was a practical compromise: enforce brand and accessibility while keeping editorial workflows simple.
Gutenberg as an enabler
The demo emphasized how Gutenberg patterns and block-based templates let teams assemble pages quickly and consistently. By providing curated block patterns, block-level theme styles, and a small set of specialized ACF or plugin blocks, we reduced the need for bespoke templates and sped up content creation.
Key technical approaches
- Block patterns for common page sections to enforce brand layout
- Theme.json and editor styles to surface brand tokens in the editor
- Lightweight plugin bundling for project-specific features
- Use of ACF or simple block plugins for controlled custom functionality
- Accessible defaults and responsive grid wrappers for visual consistency
What came out of the work
- Faster editorial onboarding and fewer layout mistakes
- Consistent brand presentation across sub-sites
- A reusable library of patterns and block recipes for future projects