Susan Snodgrass

Website projects

Website content strategy
Web design & development

About Susan

Susan Snodgrass is a Chicago-based critic and editor. Much of her writing is devoted to alternative models of critical practice and art making, whether exploring new genres of public art or contemporary art in former Eastern Europe. In addition to her work as an editor, she has written extensively for both print and digital publications. It is important that Susan’s website captures the breadth of her past work and can grow with her to accommodate new work and projects that she takes on.

Susan Snodgrass in front of clear glass in a building window

Project to-do list

Strategize a home on the web where Susan can publish original writing and aggregate works from other sources
Create a visual site design that allows the writing to shine and doesn’t overpower the images of visual artworks
Develop a professional website that will represent Susan accurately and uplift her work
Ensure that administrative staff will be able to update the site themselves and manage its content easily
Provide a well-organized space for Susan’s blog to be integrated within the site
Provide information about and promote the books that she’s written and/or edited over her career
Strategize and create a comprehensive catalog of Susan’s writings, including documents or links when appropriate and an interactive full listing of her body of work

Project milestone

Content strategy

Susan had a clear set of requirements for our website project together. She says, “I wanted a website that would showcase my writing and publishing projects yet still have a strong visual presence that wouldn’t clash with the images of artworks featured in my articles. I also wanted a streamlined platform that would aggregate my various activities into a cohesive identity.”

Together we tackled the project’s content strategy foundations, thinking through ways to accomplish these goals and meet the needs of the site’s visitors.

Project milestone

Site design & development

Susan needed a unifying home on the web for her body of work. Our first step together was to clarify what content should be included on the site, defining a clear site architecture. Then we created a purposefully simple site design that met Susan’s minimalist aesthetic and allowed the utilized artwork imagery to shine. And we developed a user-friendly, accessible, mobile-friendly website to hold it all. The result is professional, informational, and represents Susan authentically.

View Site

Laptop showing an individual page on the site — Intentionally minimal site design doesn’t overwhelm the words and images.

Screenshot of In/Site showing image across top and post archive

Project milestone

On-site blog

When we initially launched Susan’s website, she had a separate blog hosted elsewhere on a WordPress.com setup. In/Site: Reflections on the Art of Place is her blog devoted to art, architecture and urbanism, using Chicago as a vantage point for reflections on the work of contemporary artists, public art and urban projects that reinvent the spatial environment of the city. A few years after launch, we worked with Susan again to merge this blog into her primary site. We were able to keep some design elements consistent for loyal readers, while reaping the benefits of a single integrated site. Now, interested folks can find Susan on the web in one central place.

Project milestone

Book promotion

When Susan had a book she had written published, her site was ready to accommodate this new need. We created a clear page on her site, included in the main site navigation, giving quick access to information about the book and its language editions, including links to purchase. The page also has plenty of room for information about other books Susan has been involved with as writer or editor.

Website page showing book information and links

Visual archive of writings shows big images for each, as well as publication information. — The visual archive shows vivid images for each listed item.

Sortable table of writings — The listing view can be sorted, searched and filtered by topic or publication.

Spotlight on

Catalog of writings

Over the course of her career, Susan has written for a variety of publications, including online and print media. She knew she needed a comprehensive listing of all of these works, and the time was finally right a few years after her website initially launched.

We started by helping Susan think through the various pieces of information she needed to gather and how best to organize them. Then we worked with her to identify the most representative, user-friendly methods to display these articles.

Once Susan had gathered her In/Site articles, links to online pieces, and downloadable PDFs of print publications, we built a multi-faceted catalog that uplifts all of these writings. When articles are hosted elsewhere or are in PDF form, a selected excerpt helps give the reader an idea of what kind of content to expect.

A visual archive gives quick, eye-catching access to work, with the most recent at top. And a full-featured listing table allows the site visitor to filter the full list by topic, search by keyword, and sort through all the writings to find just the right one. Together, these give Susan’s work their due and help to represent her impressive career accurately.