www.nysca.org
New York State Council on the Arts was looking for a friendlier, more structurally sound website, which Flat's Petter Ringbom designed with the look of metrocard vending machine meets smaller type and brighter colors. Purely an informational tool without a single photo to be found,it's hardly boring to the creative types there to sniff out grant money.

We wanted the site to feel welcoming and transparent to the user, Ringbom says. From a circular graph in the center of the home page, one can select any of the programs receiving grants and learn how much money was awarded the previous year. The graph also provides an alternate entry point to the site.

The biggest challenge was to make large amounts of text accessible and legible. A smaller challenge was implementing a pretty hideous and intrusive top bar that New York State insists on having on all of their subsites, Ringbom says. We ended up redrawing their top bar and using it only on a timed splash page.

The site is cheerful and friendly,Ringbom says, the way a cultural state agency should be. If only getting big bucks from the NYSCA were as simple as navigating their pleasant website.
Romy Ashby

Flat
ART DIRECTOR: Petter Ringbom
DESIGNER: Holly Gressley
INTERACTIVE DESIGNER: Doug Lloyd
CLIENT: New York State Council on the Arts
CONTACT: www.flat.com