At the core of our approach lies trust, which is why we begin every project with a conversation. It’s a chance to get to know each other and understand your project scope and goals.

This brief meeting is where you do a lot of talking, and we do a lot of listening. After we understand the gist of what you’re looking for, we’ll estimate a project budget, studio team, and timeline for you to review. Once our project gets the green light, we’ll file a detailed scope of work, sign the contract and collect a deposit — typically we ask for 30% of the project fee up-front.

In our Discovery Workshop, our goal is simply to hear from each stakeholder to understand as much as we can about your mission, challenges and their individual perspective.

We are equal parts creative agency, design firm and strategic consultants. We’re experts at stakeholder interviews because of our instincts as journalists. We’re also editors who know how to synthesize information. During this phase, we’ll research your brand reach and competition in addition to mining your archives and data warehouse to surface key content in our exploration. We’ll then brainstorm solutions to improve user experiences, and summarize our findings in a visual project deck for you.

This step focuses on detailing your voice and visual identity — things such as your narrative, colors and typography.

Before we launch full-steam into creative work, we always do a gut check to make sure we’re on the same page visually. That’s why we put together Mood Boards — visual inspiration that we’ll share with you. We’ll talk about what vibe feels right for your experience, and we’ll use your choices as an ongoing reference in our creative process.

Building on the foundation established in the strategy phase, our identity work brings your organization’s brand to life.

We can design logos, color palettes, typography, and other visual elements that reflect your brand’s personality and values. Whether creating a new brand or refreshing an existing one, we strive to create a memorable identity that sets your organization apart from the competition and ensures consistency across all touchpoints. This will be organized in the form of a comprehensive style guide and brand documentation.

User mapping is a critical step in understanding how users interact with your website and identifying areas for improvement.

We analyze user behavior to create maps that outline the steps users take to achieve their goals. By visualizing the user experience from start to finish, we gain valuable insights into user needs and preferences, allowing us to optimize the design and functionality of your website or print product. This work helps to define the visual narrative that will inform the experience and design.

Information architecture is the backbone of a well-organized and user-friendly website.

In this phase, we’ll structure and organize the content of your website using our proven skim-and-dive approach to facilitate navigation and accessibility. Through wireframing and prototyping, we create a logical hierarchy and navigation system that guides users to the information they need quickly and easily. We ensure that content is organized intuitively, labels are clear and descriptive, and navigation paths are streamlined for optimal user experience. With a solid information architecture in place, we set the stage for a successful website design and development process.

In this stage, we bring your brand to life across various mediums.

Our team can create a range of assets, including custom illustrations and visual narratives, all of which communicate your message effectively. From marketing collateral to social media templates, we develop engaging content that contributes to a cohesive brand presence.

User interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design are at the heart of creating an engaging and intuitive digital experience.

We thrive on building experiences with a story-first approach. Once the work group establishes the overall tone, style, and information architecture, our designers will get to work in the next set of sprints to flesh out a rich, visually engaging design that is professional, informative, organized and easy to navigate. We’ll prepare blocks, patterns, and templates to establish a visual system that will allow staff members to promote various content types and rearrange sections without compromising the design hierarchy after the initial launch.

Feedback and revisions are essential components of our iterative process.

A standard project scope includes two rounds of revisions for each set of deliverables. That means you’ll see designs, provide feedback, see updated designs, provide more feedback, then see final designs for approval. If you need additional revisions, we’ll charge an overage fee — because that approach helps keep feedback clear and concise, which saves everyone time and energy all around.

This is where our design concepts come to life.

In this phase, our team of developers utilizes the latest technologies and best practices to build a high-performance, user-friendly website. We developed the Gridible plugin in concert with our custom WordPress themes to transform your layout creation experience — making it simpler, faster, and more efficient than ever before. We prioritize clean code, responsive design, and optimal performance. We also follow industry standards and coding conventions to ensure compatibility, security, and scalability. Once features are implemented, our team will begin to build landing pages and flesh out narrative topic pages.

Content migration and cleanup involve transferring existing content to your new website and ensuring that it is organized, formatted, and optimized for the best possible user experience.

Our team carefully reviews and audits existing content, identifying opportunities to improve clarity, relevance, and SEO. We migrate content from your old website to the new platform, and we’ll groom rich-text markup and add features for a set amount of posts in your archive. We also create new content as needed, optimizing it for search engines and ensuring consistency with your brand voice and messaging.

This stage encompasses meticulous quality assurance (QA) processes to ensure the reliability, functionality, and accessibility of your site prior to launch.

We verify functionality across various devices, browsers, and platforms. Our testing protocols include evaluating compliance with WCAG guidelines, screen reader compatibility, keyboard navigation, and color contrast ratios, providing an inclusive and seamless user experience for all. In addition to implementing the feature designs, our developers will be responsible for setting up and customizing the tools that you’ll need to use. Our team has experience integrating with many third-party services, like Mailchimp for newsletters and other CRM tools. On the site, we will integrate proprietary meta tags and plugins to enable social sharing, site traffic analytics, and SEO optimization.

We will provide live support on the go-live date and on-call support for several weeks after launch. 

During this stage, we’ll focus on user training, which is critical for ensuring that your team can effectively manage and maintain your new website. We provide comprehensive documentation and training sessions tailored to your organization’s needs, covering topics such as content management, website administration, and best practices for using the platform. Our team is available to answer questions, provide guidance, and troubleshoot any issues that arise during the training process.

Ongoing maintenance is essential for keeping your website running smoothly and securely.

Our team provides ongoing support and maintenance services to ensure that your platform remains up-to-date, secure, and optimized for performance. We monitor your website for any issues or vulnerabilities and proactively address them to minimize downtime and ensure a seamless user experience. Additionally, we offer regular updates and enhancements to keep your website current and relevant, ensuring that it continues to meet your organization’s evolving needs and objectives.