When we first started looking for someone to help redesign Colossal, we knew we needed a special partner. Our last site, designed and built by the amazing Armin Vit, had served us well for more than seven years, but with myriad additions, we had completely outgrown it. We had code nested away in the underbelly that was more than a decade old. It was practically carved in wood. So where to look?
First, we knew a lot of hands would make light work, and a small team was the only way to go. We wanted somebody local in Chicago, an agency that shared not only our brand ethos but our vision of the world, a partner to help carry our brand forward into the next decade.
After a long search, we landed on Firebelly, and it was well worth the wait. Their motto: Good Design for Good Reason.
We joined forces about ten months ago, and through workshops, surveys, and research into our readership and goals, we laid the foundation for a meaningful partnership, a new identity, and an entirely new site resting on WordPress.
To say the feedback has been positive would be an understatement. While we expected the usual bug reports (thanks so much, still smashing those!) and constructive criticism (also cool!), we were floored by the overwhelming responses from every channel. Sharing this with the Firebelly team, we realized there might be a larger story here for all you design nerds, so if you’re interested in how the new site came together, we’re sharing the first of a three-part series over the next month that peels back the curtain on the joyfully collaborative rebrand and website transformation and share the process behind the magazine you’re reading today.
Explore Part 1: Laying the Foundation on Firebelly.
Lastly, an enormous thank you to Will Miller, Dean Sweetnich, Susannah Ramshaw, Elaine Hancock, Makenzie Beyer, the rest of the Firebelly team, our developer Jordon Rupp, and illustrator Natalie Shilo for helping make this website everything it is today. We’re so glad to have undertaken this project with you by our side.
