Project Overview
The Better Government Association came to us with a big vision for a new brand. It didn’t even have a name yet.
BGA set out to create a nonprofit media venture, which we helped name the Illinois Answers Project, focused on investigative journalism with a twist.
In addition to covering the problem, they would surface solutions — things that have worked elsewhere. And they intended to do it digitally, in person, and in many other ways.
The goal: Empower readers— citizens of Illinois and their leaders — with the information needed to be equal participants in our democracy. We couldn’t have been more eager to help them.
Our Approach
We worked closely with the editorial and leadership teams to understand their workflow, audience, and goals — and translated that into a flexible, elegant publishing platform built on WordPress.
As an entirely new publication, we understood that many folks’ first visit would be to an article page and that they likely wouldn’t be familiar with the organization yet. But they would be familiar with BGA, which had just won a Pulitzer Prize for its local reporting in partnership with the Chicago Tribune.
- Editorial-first UX: We restructured the site’s architecture to support both long-form investigations and shorter news updates, while elevating categories like authors, topics, and series.
- Flexible design system: We created a modern, accessible design that prioritizes readability, visual storytelling, and trust.
- Custom blocks & templates: The site was built with a robust system of Gutenberg blocks, custom fields, and pre-designed layouts, giving editors full control over how stories are told — without requiring developer input.
- Performance & sustainability: With cleaner code and modern hosting, the site now loads faster, ranks better, and runs more efficiently.
The Result
The new Illinois Answers platform positions the newsroom for long-term impact — supporting high-quality journalism with a digital experience that’s accessible, trustworthy, and built to grow. Editors can publish faster, stories are easier to discover, and the mission shines through every page.
Services
Strategy
Web Design
Messaging
Mobile Design
Brand Identity
Newsletter Design
