CCJ Design

Recently, I collaborated with Katy Ward of New Story Marketing to develop a website for Brain Bias Being,a nonprofit organization presenting interactive and emotionally engaging workshops to foster belonging among staff members.

The principals of Brain Bias Being, Dr. AZA Allsop and Bruce Birren, PhD, both scientists and researchers, lead their workshops at various workplaces in the Boston Metropolitan area, including the Broad Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston College, Myrtle Baptist Church, among others.

Their work leverages neuroscience to neutralize the effects of cognitive bias. Doing so allows other parts of the brain to view differences, not as barriers, but as opportunities to include new and previously unused perspectives when developing ideas. This fosters a sense of belonging, which in turn accelerates innovation.

Katy and I were asked to use our expertise: web design, content strategy, and copywriting to craft a website for AZA and Bruce that described their endeavor in language that is inviting to read, clearly explains and defines Brain Bias Being's approach, and the benefits organizations and staff receive.

Katy, an experienced copywriter and brand strategist with a history of working with mission-driven organizations, met with Birren and Allsop to understand how their approach differs from that of other organizations doing similar work, and how science and AZA's and Bruce's relationship informs their methods.

As Katy wrote and revised the copy, I conducted an extensive brand analysis. I created moodboards to give Allsop and Birren a sense of the visuals for their new website and the market they might target.

After the copy was finalized, I built mockups, which were revised and refined in Adobe XD. And after a round of revisions, the final, working website was developed using a page builder named Oxygen sitting upon WordPress.

The final result can be seen here at https://brainbiasbeing.org.

If you like this website and are in the market for developing your own website, please message me. I'd be pleased to listen to you about your ideas for your website and how I can help.

Describing the hallmarks of good web design to me sometimes feels like trying to choreograph a dance about architecture. Web design, like most design, communicates using visuals. How does someone quickly summarize color psychology and usability theory used to determine the best number of menu options within a main menu?

Hopefully, the article "Helpful Tips to Evaluate Web Design Companies" (link in bio) gives more than a hint about the traits to notice and identify in your future web design partner.

If you like this article and want to talk about your favorite trait, please like this post and leave a quick comment

Welcome to 2023! We have a fresh new year and a clear road ahead leading to our success; however, that’s defined.

Part of my business-related plan for success is being more open to potential clients about my skills. Some of you call this networking, but I am an introvert and don’t like to think of networking. Kind of how extraverts don’t like to think of crossing the highway during rush hour.

The thought of shaking the hands of so many people that I’ve lost count is much more activity than the average day for a code writer like me. Not to mention the tremors of social worry jolting around from wondering if I’ve put my foot in my mouth or just the middle toe when talking to someone interesting.

But the journey to make new personal business relationships is to start somewhere.
Creating a new LinkedIn profile was a time to reflect on the skills and successes I gained throughout my career. Having a firmer sense of the arc of my career will help me clearly communicate my strengths and competence with prospective clients. Writing a bio may help you in the same way.

If you’re interested in framing your achievements and business skills in a golden light, you may want to view HubSpot’s YouTube video on writing a business bio.

You may check out the informative yet brief video here - https://youtu.be/ar6aLcEN9JE.

Are you planning to make more time for networking in 2023? If so, please list in the comments your new approach to networking that you think will yield success.

One last thing, if you can, please like and share.