2023: Year in Review

And that’s a wrap for 2023! At NMC, our year was defined by growth and connection. It was great to finally, finally be close to “normal” after several years of pandemic ups and downs.

Our team grew to 19 with the addition of two new Project Managers, Bridget Mizener and Olivia Robertson. Bridget and Olivia bring a diverse range of skills that allow them to offer strategic insights to clients and keep projects moving forward efficiently. Some fun facts: Bridget is an elite ultimate frisbee player and Olivia spends her free time managing a local band. We’re excited to have Bridget and Olivia on board!

In the spirit of team building and community, we were intentional about incorporating social outings and professional development opportunities throughout the year. As a hybrid workplace, we appreciate the flexibility of working remotely but we also believe in the value of connecting face-to-face. We tried our hand at axe throwing, enjoyed an ice cream social at a local farm, and brought out our competitive side during several lively rounds of bowling. Our design team attended two educational conferences – Dash Bash and Figma’s ConFig – to hear about new technology and industry topics like animation, accessibility, and the rise of AI tools. You can read more in our conference write-up.

It was a busy year for websites. We launched a grand total of 51(!!) new sites and kicked off projects in industries ranging from nonprofit to law to education. We also worked on logo and brand design, created award-winning annual reports and put together custom animations and interactive prototypes. Through our retainer program, we advised clients on SEO and digital marketing strategy and provided design and development support for ongoing initiatives.

We’re proud of what we accomplished this year and we’re excited to share some highlights below. Skip ahead to featured verticals:

Nonprofit
B2B and B2C
Law Firm
Health
Event Microsite
Education
Economic Development
Political
Other

Nonprofit Website Design

Nonprofit work made up our largest category of website launches for 2023. We worked with organizations large, small, and in-between, located everywhere from here in North Carolina to Washington D.C. and Vermont.

Some highlights included designing a high-impact advocacy website and social media campaign for Children’s Rights, creating a dynamic anniversary landing page for our existing client Population Media Center, and putting together creative layouts and animations for the International Women’s Media Foundation’s annual impact report. We enjoyed learning about each client’s cause and thinking through the best strategies for delivering important information to target audiences.

Nonprofit websites that launched this year: Children's Rights, Campaign for College Opportunities, John M. Belk Endowment, Camber Foundation, IWMF Impact Report, International Foundation for CDKL5 Research, Population Media Center 25th Anniversary Landing Page, U.S. Overseas Cooperative Development Council, Foundation for Women & Girls With Blood Disorders, Project BEST, Family Run Executive Director Leadership Association, PORCH Communities Homepage Refresh, Advanced Energy, Community Greening, Plug In NC, Feeding Flock 

B2B and B2C Website Design

Our B2B and B2C work included an engaging mix of industries. We launched a sleek and minimal website for Altitude Design Office, built Sailes and Ivy Coach for our agency-partner friends at Franklyn, and overhauled an ecommerce platform for New England’s well-known run specialty retailer, Marathon Sports. The variety of work in this category pushed us to think deeply about how to build websites that capture leads and streamline user experience.

B2B and B2C websites that launched this year: Altitude Design Office, Prairie Capital, Lawyers Insurance Agency, Sailes (designed by Franklyn), Poston Communications, Home Solutions (designed by Three Ships), Ivy Coach (designed by Franklyn), Bandwidth, NexGen Block, Marathon Sports

Law Firm Website Design

In the legal space, we partnered with several firms on branding work and website redesigns. Some of the most memorable projects were creating new visual identities for Picard Kentz & Rowe and Davis Hartman Wright and launching a series of pages for Saxena White’s Women’s Alliance initiative.

For our law firm retainer clients, we continued to provide on-demand design services and SEO strategy advice. We worked on custom one-pagers, social media assets, presentation templates, and more.

Law firm websites that launched this year: Picard Kentz & Rowe, Saxena White Women's Alliance, Outside GC, Davis Hartman Wright, Craige Jenkins Liipfert & Walker

Health Website Design

As we wrote in 2021, digital health is a growing category that has exploded in relevance over the past few years. In our work, we see digital health primarily through websites for medical research organizations, healthcare provider offices, and university health departments.

This year, our health-related work included a website and logo for e-prescriber DoseSpot, a new online presence for Duke’s Health AI Partnership, a refresh for Duke’s My Duke Health portal, and a site build for Waltz Health through our partnership with Franklyn.

Health websites that launched this year: DoseSpot, Health AI Partnership, My Duke Health, Waltz Health (designed by Franklyn)

Event Microsite Website Design

For larger conferences and events, it often makes sense to circulate information via an event microsite. These projects are a lot of fun because they typically take on their own branding or a unique messaging theme.

In 2023, we had the opportunity to work on three event microsites: a promotional page and live tracker for Fleet Feet’s Global Running Day event, a fundraising hub for Give UNC, and a digital event guide for the Legal Marketing Association’s southeast regional conference.

Event microsites that launched this year: Fleet Feet Big Run, Give UNC, LMASE Regional Conference

Education Website Design

Given our proximity to local schools and universities, we typically work on several education-related projects each year. In the past, these projects have included sites for academic departments, special programs, and schools within the larger university structures.

In addition to the projects that overlapped into other categories – Give UNC and My Duke Health – we had the opportunity to create two education websites this year. A big highlight was working with North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, our state’s STEM-focused public residential high school, to evaluate their digital goals and create a thoughtful and attractive new website. We also partnered with Carolina Center for Total Worker Health, a research center at UNC, on a new website and logo design to highlight their projects and outreach work.

Education websites that launched this year: Carolina Center for Total Worker Health, North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics

Economic Development Website Design

In the economic development category, we launched two sites for local efforts: a modern and engaging hub for Chapel Hill Economic Development and a bright and intuitive presence for Downtown Cary Park. Economic development websites are fun projects for our team because they allow us to highlight our community and all that it has to offer.

Economic development websites that launched this year: Chapel Hill Economic Development, Downtown Cary Park

Political Website Design

Political website design is a big part of our history, and we always enjoy the opportunity to return to our roots. This year’s political highlights included a gubernatorial campaign site for our longtime client Josh Stein, a site refresh for the progressive advocacy nonprofit House Majority Forward, and a design overhaul for Arena, an organization that trains the next generation of Democratic leaders.

Political websites that launched this year: Josh Stein for Governor, House Majority Forward, Arena

Other Sites Launched

Other sites that launched this year: SolSmart, Capital Opportunities, Forbes Next Billion Dollar Startups Submission Site, 53 Stations (designed by Franklyn)

Conclusion

As you can see, it was a full and exciting year here at NMC. We’re thankful for our team and our wonderful network of clients, and we appreciate all of the opportunities that came our way in 2023. Looking ahead to 2024, we’re excited to continue growing, learning, and challenging ourselves as we tackle new projects with enthusiasm and a thoughtful approach.

If you enjoyed this collection of work and updates, subscribe to our newsletter to receive a brief summary of highlights each month. And as always, don’t hesitate to contact us when you’re ready to get started on your next web project!