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02 / SAW· Building·Staging live

Sonic Artistes Website

The next-generation Sonic Artistes public website — Astro 6, dark-first design system, Directus CMS, deployed to Cloudflare Pages. Every content collection is editor-managed through a Directus→Markdown sync pipeline.

Added26 May 2026Updated31 May 2026sonicartistes.com

Overview

The next-generation Sonic Artistes public website — rebuilt from scratch with Astro 6, a dark-first design system with record-label energy, and a Directus CMS powering every editable collection. Deployed to Cloudflare Pages on a static output model with selective Preact hydration islands for interactive components.

Content is managed entirely through Directus: artists, opportunities, team members, testimonials, partners, FAQs, timeline, backstage posts, and singleton page data are all synced to the repo via an automated Directus→Markdown pipeline. The design system is built on CSS custom properties — no Tailwind — with dark and light themes, variable fonts (Hanken Grotesk + JetBrains Mono), and strict WCAG AA accessibility.

Pages include the homepage (13 sections), /opportunities, /artists archive and individual artist pages, /apply (multi-step Preact wizard), /about, /meet-the-team, /contact (Cloudflare Pages Function webhook proxy), /sonic-studios, /backstage-pass, /jobs, and a branded 404. Navigation is “The Index” — a full-screen overlay with animated presence. Staging is live at staging.sonicartistes.com on Cloudflare Pages; DNS cutover to the apex domain is pending.

Build log

22 entries

  1. The nav pulse dot is now editor-controllable — tone and visibility set in Directus, no deploy.

  2. Twelve sticky elements were all using hardcoded pixel offsets. Now they track the nav height in real time.

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  3. Sonic Studios gets its own page — production and rehearsal facility, fully branded.

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  4. There is now a /jobs board. Open roles display in a dedicated, filterable layout.

  5. The Backstage Pass is open. Editor-managed articles, no redeploy.

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  6. Lost visitors get a branded 404 in the studios visual vocabulary instead of a browser default.

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  7. Homepage hero copy and marquees are editable from Directus — no deploy needed.

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  8. Artist cards now show real portraits and gallery images where they exist.

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  9. Site settings — nav pulse and social links — now live in a Directus singleton.

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  10. Testimonials, team, and timeline are all Directus-driven now.

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  11. Partners and FAQs migrated to Directus. Three collections down, more to go.

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  12. The Directus sync now handles arrays, nested objects, and image downloads in one pass.

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  13. Opportunities are now driven by Directus. Markdown is just a sync artefact.

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  14. The team has faces and names. /meet-the-team is live.

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  15. Contact form submissions now proxy through a Cloudflare Pages Function.

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  16. Navigation is now a full-screen overlay. Meet The Index.

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  17. The story behind Sonic Artistes is now on the /about page.

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  18. The Apply Now flow is a multi-step Preact wizard — no full-page reloads.

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  19. Artists get their own archive and individual profile pages.

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  20. Musicians can now browse every live ship opportunity on one page.

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  21. The homepage went from zero to 13 sections in one build.

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  22. The site started as a blank Astro scaffold. Now it has tokens, a nav, a footer, and a theme toggle.

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