- Agency: Intellectual Ninjas
- Client: West Michigan Center for Arts + Technology (WMCAT)
- Category: Website Design — Education
- Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan
- Project Brief: Redesign the website for a nonprofit offering arts and technology education and workforce development, with clearer paths for teens, young adults, adults, families, and community partners.
Teens looking for an art studio and adults weighing a career change land on the same education website, and each one needs a fast path to the right program. Intellectual Ninjas rebuilt WMCAT’s site around a bold photo collage framed in bright geometric shapes and a menu sorted by who you are.
WMCAT is a Grand Rapids nonprofit that helps people make social and economic progress through arts, tech, and career training. Its programs run tuition-free across two tracks: Arts + Tech for teens and Workforce Development for young adults and adults.
The hero sets the brand’s visual language right away. Students and graduates appear inside purple, orange, lime, and teal triangles and circles, beside a heavy uppercase headline in slate gray.
Three color-coded buttons sit below the headline. Teal leads to Arts + Tech, purple to Step Year, and blue to the Adult Career Training Program, so each audience finds its door on the first screen.
A reorganized sitemap feeds a mega menu with About, Programs, Stories + News, and Connect. A lime green Donate button and announcement bar stay pinned at the top.
Next, a teal gradient band with an angled edge introduces WMCAT’s mission. Video backgrounds then bring the studios and classrooms to life behind the program sections.
Each program card states who it serves. Step Year lists ages 18 to 24, while the Adult Career Training Program spells out certifications in cybersecurity and pharmacy tech, plus student stipends.
Student stories and news fill the What’s New section, with posts about events like Studio Sips and alumni profiles. The tagline “Creativity belongs here, and so do you” ties the arts side together.
Under the hood, a streamlined WordPress build gives WMCAT’s team flexible modules for programs, events, and stories. SEO setup, Google Search Console, redirect management, fewer plugins, and secure cloud hosting keep the site fast and stable.
Results & Impact
WMCAT now has a cohesive, expressive site that makes it easier for people to find a program and take the next step. The design reflects the organization’s commitment to equal access to opportunity across every page.
- Audience-first navigation: Color-coded buttons and a mega menu guide teens, young adults, and adults to their programs
- Consistent visual language: Geometric shapes and a bright palette tie Arts + Tech and Workforce Development together
- Easy content updates: Flexible WordPress modules let staff manage programs, news, events, and student stories
- Stronger technical base: SEO, redirects, fewer plugins, and secure hosting support long-term performance
