Colossal: Part 1
Laying the Foundation
Sep 16, 2024 – by Elaine Hancock
A Colossal and Firebelly collab was a long time coming.
A wildly popular online art magazine that celebrates contemporary art and visual culture, Colossal happens to be run by a small team here in Chicago. We’re longtime fans — and it didn’t hurt that the feeling was mutual :)
We joined forces about 10 months ago and we’re delighted to peel back the curtain on the joyfully collaborative rebrand and website transformation.
Discovery—
Transparency, check.
Trust, check.
Off to a great start.
The magic began at our in-person kickoff. The room was buzzing as we revelled in the chance to work together after admiring each other’s work for decades.
We got to hear about their hopes and dreams face-to-face — and noticed attachments they had for certain aspects of their existing brand system. This is when we began to hear about an appetite for big change. We were ready to start exploring these new visual worlds.
Brand Workshop—
Key Insight: “There has to be a why behind the whimsy.”
Post kickoff, we “came together” for a virtual brand workshop in Miro with founder Christopher Jobson and editor-in-chief Grace Ebert. Focusing on interactive activities like attribute sliders, we uncovered the nuances of Colossal’s brand personality.
We talked at length on resonant topics like why they see Colossal as sitting between “playful” and “wholesome,” and leaning more towards “curator” than “cheerleader.” These themes became a guiding light for our visual design process, emphasizing that while Colossal celebrates creativity, it always does so with purpose and depth.
We also spent time mapping out user journeys along with their full suite of offerings and the benefits they provide to different audiences. These activities revealed opportunities to better communicate the breadth of Colossal’s work, from newsletters and workshops to their growing presence with in-person events in Chicago.
Website Workshop—
Key Insight: The site needs to balance the beloved infinite scroll with a more structured navigation.
Never ones to shy away from the technical, our second workshop got detailed as we shifted to the website, where we explored user behavior and architecture. We used journey mapping exercises to understand how different user groups – from casual art lovers to professional educators – interact with Colossal’s visually rich content.
This led to the development of enhanced tagging and search functionality, making it easier for users to find exactly what they’re looking for while encouraging serendipitous exploration for those who prefer to experience the site in a less goal-oriented way.
Brand Strategy—
Drawing from our workshops and broader research, which included surveys of VIP readers and nearly 1,000 general readers, we crafted distinct brand attributes that together capture Colossal’s brand essence.
These attributes guided our visual identity work (more about that in the next post.) The new design maintains Colossal’s playful spirit but introduces elements that reflect its depth and curatorial expertise. The result is a visual system that shows up harmonious, fresh and familiar, capable of showcasing the wide range of art Colossal features.
Website Strategy—
The new site is a welcoming space for people from all walks of life. To achieve this, we organized users by mindsets, goals and needs rather than boxy, superficial demographics. This led us to a strategy that aligned with Colossal’s organizational goals while centering these priority user types:
- Explorers seeking inspiration
- Seekers looking for specific content
- Networkers aiming to connect with artists
- Amplifiers sharing discoveries across personal and professional networks
The reimagined site architecture makes all of their content easier to find and enjoy, from articles and interviews to events and educational resources. Behind the scenes, the new tagging system and enhanced search make everything more discoverable maintaining the serendipitous browsing experience that many readers love.
Looking Ahead—
We loved teaming up with these folks and this new chapter for Colossal is one we’re honored to be a part of.
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Next up: Will Miller, Firebelly’s Senior Director of Design, outlines our atypical process for Colossal’s visual identity design.