c23 Labs is a mentorship group and artist community that serves as a nexus for emerging creatives and seasoned artists. It offers a platform to enhance skills and learn the micro realism style that founder Oscar Akermo is renowned for. The previous website, crafted by an independent designer, was very visually stunning but functioned more as a portfolio than an effective marketing tool. Our mission was to build upon this established branding to create a website optimized for conversions, quickly and effectively educating users about the c23 Labs offerings. This involved consolidating content from multiple sources into a single, cohesive hub for prospective students.

The existing c23 Labs site, while beautiful, fell short of its potential as a marketing and educational tool. It lacked the streamlined functionality needed to convey the value of the mentorship program, courses, and community.

A lot of the content on the site redirected the user to other platforms leaving the course information (video demos and course descriptions) as well as pricing information very scattered. A specific pain we identified was the frequent use of "learn more" CTAs throughout the site.

Here's the thing... if someone is coming onto your site, they're already trying to learn more. So, the opportunity here was clear: transform the site into a comprehensive platform that serves as the central hub for all c23 Labs information, blending in all of the content that was previously siloed into various external links. By doing so, we could ensure that users have all the information they need in one place, eliminating the need to redirect to other sites and providing a seamless journey from discovery to enrollment.

We worked closely with Oscar Akermo and his business partner, Oisin, to refine their initial concept designs and make them shine. Our goal was to create an amazing user experience by focusing on intuitive navigation, mobile optimization, and making it extra clear what exactly c23 Labs has to offer. We paid special attention to the site’s architecture and SEO keywords to attract more prospective students—because who doesn't love more visibility? And yes, we added all the alt text, because accessibility matters, especially on media heavy websites, and we love giving everything that extra bit of attention 🫶🏼

Streamlining the design to highlight the value of the mentorship program and courses was a key focus. We wanted to make it easier for visitors to understand what they can expect, so we showcased more of Oscar’s work and the work of c23 Labs' students. After all, people are drawn to Oscar and his incredible art. We gotta give the people what they want! It’s all about showing them what they’re going to learn. Currently, we have integrated the videos to ensure all the content is in one place. However, for V2 of the site, we aim to make the videos less necessary by incorporating more copywriting and visual shorthands to capture that value at a glance—because attention spans are short these days.

We opted for a sleek, one-page design to keep all essential information in one place. Our advanced navigation system smoothly scrolls to each section, even on mobile devices. And, of course, we incorporated scroll animations and hover effects to give the desktop version its own flair while keeping it clean and mobile-first for the majority of visitors accessing the site on their phones.

Oscar and Oisin have a wealth of valuable insights about artistry and creativity that mostly lived on Instagram. We wanted to bring these nuggets to the site as well. By developing a CMS collection for blog posts from the c23 Labs team, we were able to capture this wisdom and establish authority in the industry. Additionally, we linked the site to c23 Labs' Instagram and other social media channels, giving users seamless access to all the extra content and communication they could want.