SECTOR: Public Spaces, Arts & Culture, Horticulture, Agriculture
TIMEFRAME: 2021-2022
SERVICES: Marketing Support, Graphic Design, Website Content Development
BACKGROUND:
Bartram's Garden is a multi-layered and complex organization: public park, historical site, farm rooted in African diasporic foodways, educational space, community gathering place, home for arts and culture. They are intentional about repairing the harmful legacies of their colonial past, and are working to build a vibrant community of neighbors and nature-lovers.
MARKETING SUPPORT:
Concentric Strategy first began working with Bartram's Garden in 2021, when they had a marketing staff member go on leave. We stepped in to manage social media, website, and email newsletters for a 7-month interim period. We coordinated with the various staff teams to promote events and the annual plant sale during their busy summer period, and ensured that the Garden's story and values were reaching their diverse audiences.
MAP RE-DESIGN:
The staff had been working for a long time on a new format and approach for their map brochure. The old map focused only on the historic section of the Garden, in a text-heavy way that had limited appeal for many of their visitors. They wanted to better represent the complexity and layers of the Garden, while also prioritizing the visitor experience.
In 2021, Melinda Steffy worked with the team to integrate the architectural map drawing with botanical illustrations by a local artist and the new content developed by staff. The new map shows the entire length of the Garden with details about each area, including historical information as well as things to do when you visit. For visitors who like to read, there are sections of longer text. For visually-oriented visitors, there are clear graphics and skimmable text. Altogether, the new map brochure tells a story of a living place with room for everyone to grow and connect and enjoy.
WEBSITE CONTENT DEVELOPMENT:
From 2021-2022, Concentric Strategy partnered with Masters Group Design (MGD) to completely redesign the Bartram's Garden website. Concentric Strategy led discovery and content development, while MGD did the architecture, design, and technical development.
In the discovery phase, we sought to understand what both external audiences and internal staff teams needed from the site. We led focus groups and conducted a survey to gather data about brand positioning and website use. From there, MGD created a plan for the site's structure and the visual identity.
Based on MGD's site map and architecture, Melinda worked with staff to build out all of the content. Melinda created a detailed process for compiling and reviewing content, made recommendations for layout and functionality, and edited the final content for clarity and website-friendliness.
The final site captures the complex layers of the Garden and invites visitors to explore and learn more about this beautiful public space.
Commenti