About Us
Designing, Developing, and Maintaining Platforms That Evolve From Real-Life Ideas
The People Behind the Platform.
We started Unrelated to close the gap between design, development, and the people who use what we build. Our backgrounds span publishing, product strategy, and software engineering. Together, we bring a newsroom-style precision and a software development discipline to every WordPress system we create.
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Ben Cunningham
Principal Partner, based in Chicagoland
Ben leads our strategic direction and client partnerships. He focuses on connecting editorial clarity with technical rigor—ensuring every project delivers immediate impact and lasting value.
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Kurt Cunningham
Principal Partner, based in Chicagoland
Kurt directs design and implementation, aligning user experience with development. His cross-disciplinary background drives Unrelated’s flexible, collective approach to building systems.
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Clay Carpenter
Technology Lead, based in Portlandia
Clay leads technical engineering and performance optimization, making sure every build is clean under the hood and built to grow without breaking.
(Ben and Kurt are un-related)
Milestones in Our Journey to Build Systems That Grow With Their Communities
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JAN
2026
Responsive Scale Controls
Amplify adds granular responsive scaling for text and spacing, giving admins precise control over how elements adapt across screen sizes.
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JAN
2026
Knowledge Becomes Conversational
Amplify AI Knowledge Hubs launch, turning posts, pages, and custom content into searchable, conversational experiences powered by an organization’s own data.
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DEC
2025
Motion Control Comes to Storytelling
The Storytelling plugin gains animation controls, allowing admins to trigger visual effects based on scroll position and interaction.
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DEC
2025
Layout Structure Made Visible
Gridible adds an on-screen grid overlay, helping admins visualize columns and offsets in real time while building complex layouts.
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JUN
2025
Storytelling Moves With the Page
Cinematic scroll animations enter Amplify through Sync Motion and Float Motion blocks, enabling immersive, scroll-driven narratives using GSAP.
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MAY
2025
Events Built Into the Platform
Amplify introduces a native Events plugin, allowing organizations to manage and present upcoming events directly within WordPress.
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APR
2025
Amplify Teams Become a First-Class Feature
We launch a dedicated Team plugin, giving organizations flexible ways to showcase staff, leadership, and contributors with customizable profiles and layouts.
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AUG
2024
Amplify Launches as a Shared Platform
Amplify debuts as Unrelated’s modular WordPress framework, consolidating years of client-driven engineering into a shared foundation for design, publishing, and growth.
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MAY
2024
Unrelated Takes Shape
Unrelated partners with mission-driven organizations, building accessible, community-centered digital tools for education, advocacy, and research.
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2012–
2024
Built in Newsrooms and the Field
Ben and Kurt spent years building and shipping publishing systems. Ben developed print publishing and newsroom platforms. Kurt built and co-founded Made By Munsters.
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JAN
2012
A Shared Start in Publishing
Ben and Kurt Cunningham (unrelated ) meet on newspagedesigner.com and begin collaborating on one of the earliest newspaper design centers for Lee Enterprises.
Help Those Who Help Others
Our Work Reflects the People We Serve
We partner with organizations that expand access, inclusion, and community impact—teams improving lives through sport, education, and advocacy. Our role is to design systems that carry that mission forward: platforms that empower, clarify, and grow alongside the people they support.
Building Responsibly
Our Responsibility Extends Beyond the Screen
We design for organizations addressing the planet’s biggest challenges—from energy and climate to research and policy. Responsible engineering, for us, means creating systems that run lean, last longer, and use fewer resources. Every improvement online contributes to a healthier world offline.
From One Success to the Next—Our Approach Keeps Growing
From One Success to the Next—Our Approach Keeps Growing
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“Our new website offers a unique mix of analysis, background information, and context. Kurt and his extended team did an excellent job helping us see new ways to present this information and delivering on a rapid timeline for implementation. We enjoy working with them.”
News + Release Notes
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A New Look for Invest in Open Infrastructure
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Community-Focused Roadmap.
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Custom, Unique Design.
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Platform Built For Scale.
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Custom, Unique Design.