A laptop prototype showing the first page of the International Free Expression Project's website.

Client

International Free
Expression Project

Date Completed

June 2021

My Role

Project Management
Participatory Design
Information Architecture
High Fidelity Wireframes

The Team Members

Front End Developer
Copywriter

Client

International Free Expression Project

Date Completed

June 2021

My Role

Project Management
Participatory Design

Information Architecture
High Fidelity Wireframes

The Team Members

Front End Developer
Copywriter

Breaking the Boundaries
of Free Expression

A local arts nonprofit wanted to redesign their website, to launch with their first outdoor art exhibit. We struck a balance between place and space, designing a creative laboratory which activates the transformative power of being you. I lead the project through timelining, co-design sessions, team management, in addition to crafting the information architecture and high fidelity wireframes.

THE CONTEXT

A Picture with 1,000 Words

01.

Started by a career journalist, the International Free Expression Project was mounting an art exhibit outside the historic Pittsburgh Post Gazette building (a newspaper that printed the Declaration of Independence!). At the same time, the organization was developing an arts innovation space inside the press room.

The client wanted a more navigable website, while allowing patrons to experience the show’s palpable symbolism from a distance. Though budget dictated a lean build, the project could not succeed without addressing the organization’s unfocused audience and tone. And when working with a lover of words, how you speak is almost as important as the clarity of your words.

my deliverables (by the numbers)

Woman-ing the Ship

1 competitive brand audit

1 information architecture plan

1 style guide

10 responsive high fidelity wireframes

2 participatory design sessions

1 happy client managed

Auditing the Organization

What is Free Expression?

02.

During the project onboarding, I noted a conflict between the organization’s messaging and stated goals. In the founder’s words, the initiative was part human rights NGO, part museum, part community collaboration, with the added capacity of a maker space and food hall. This variety was itself confusing. However, of greater concern was the organization’s academic and alarmist tone, which would immediately alienate their young and diverse audience.

To clearly position the organization, I presented their activities within a competitive spectrum. On the far left are the militant defenders of free expression, namely democracy and media freedom nonprofits. On the right are for-profit art galleries with a social mission. While adhering to the principles of Geneva Convention Human Rights, the organization actually borrowed more from the community arts and incubators.

I proposed centering IFEP in their physical laboratory for innovation. The space provided conceptual limits to an unending number of initiatives (much like a museum or science center), while materializing some of the organization’s more overwhelming ideas.

the human
rights ngo
the community
arts center
the art
museum
the arts
incubator
the art
gallery

“Canadian Journalists for Free Expression champions free expression, including freedom of the press and access to information, in Canada and abroad, as a fundamental pillar of democracy.”

“RedLine was created to support emerging artists, and provide creative opportunities for local residents.”

“Manchester Art Gallery is...a place of civic thinking and public imagination, it promotes art as a means to achieve social change.”

“NEW INC incubates everything from social enterprises to venture-scale start-ups to creative studios to influential new artworks.”

"We will aim to combine the force, passion and creativity of the artists of our planet, and translate them into educational programmes that can easily be understood by children."

information architecture

Every Word has a Value

02.

Based on our mutually generated goals, the website needed to succinctly but warmly communicate the organizational mission. I sorted the results of our identity sessions by type and importance, and created sections which directly address user’s most common questions about IFEP. Titles like ‘Why is this Important’ and ‘What is Free Expression?’ establish clear sign posts to digest the mission. From these blocks I derived the simplest possible page structure, paired with a concise menu to direct distracted teens and artists alike.

This process was far more valuable than any logo we could have created.

FOUNDER, THE INTERNATIONAL
FREE EXPRESSION PROJECT
success metrics

A Shared Identity

07.

The client made almost no edits to the designs, though of course the copy was changed far past the launch date. The website saw more than 200% increase in traffic, and exhibit attendees reported the connection they felt when viewing the site while standing next to the building walls. Identity is personal, yet its expression is universal. And when expression is limitless, so too is our capacity to change. Sometimes the first step towards transformation is simply seeing the world through another’s eyes.

check out some press love
07.

Courtesy: IFEP & Angelo Re