NEA + LISC

Designing a streamlined website that houses SO. MUCH. MATERIAL.

A long-standing partnership between the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) generated a wealth of information about the field of Creative Placemaking, a powerful arts-based, community-driven, nationwide movement that revitalizes communities. Our task was to create a streamlined website that would contain all the material while allowing everyone from NEA grantees to casual visitors to find the information they wanted. After sifting through the content, we saw great potential to not only provide an organized, easy-to-navigate structure, but to elevate and celebrate the story of Creative Placemaking. The outcome is a vibrant website that offers a great user experience.

Services

Information Architecture
Content Strategy
Website Design + Build

A detailed project planning chart with various sections, including phases such as introduction to creative placemaking, community needs, understanding communities, building partnerships, designing projects, and measuring impact. The chart features multiple sticky notes with titles like 'Updated text intro', 'Community Engagement Spectrum', 'Values Exercise', and others, organized in rows and columns to outline steps, activities, and resources for a community-focused project.

Information Architecture

The project started with a Miro board with dozens of Post-Its, each reflecting an item of content. Nearly every item needed to be categorized, edited, and then contextualized on a website that would convey the amazing story of Creative Placemaking while allowing NEA grantees to easily find useful materials to help them with their projects. 

Content Strategy

After deciding to turn the website into a type of toolkit, we were able to think about how best to deploy the written, visual, and video content. Color blocks and drop down menus turned a dense, overwhelming website into a readable, streamlined experience, without losing any of the content.

After

Laptop screen displaying a webpage titled "Partnership Basics" in creative placemaking with a photo of diverse smiling people at the top, and text about building sustained partnerships across sectors.

Before

Tablet displaying a webpage about partnerships in creative placemaking projects, with a photo of two people near a mural and colorful lanterns.

Website Design + Build

We specialize in knowing how to utilize and tweak existing tools for best effect. In the case of this website, that meant deploying a toolkit platform that allowed us to transform reams of material into a step-by-step system for Creative Placemaking professionals to design and execute projects.

Website homepage for Creative Placemaking Technical Assistance with sections on community partnerships, engagement, asset mapping, shared agreements, funding, and artists.
A laptop and a smartphone displaying a website about creative placemaking tools and resource library, with the laptop showing a diverse group of people in front of a colorful mural and the smartphone showing a playground and resource worksheets.
Laptop displaying a webpage about artists and creative placemaking.

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