American Press Institute

Brand + CreativeMessage DevelopmentResearch + Insights
Written By Kristine Neil

How design thinking unlocked the future of this organization’s messaging and brand.

For nearly 80 years, the American Press Institute (API) has guided media and journalism leaders navigating changes in the field. In recent years, the field has grown increasingly crowded and API needed a new way to communicate its unique value, and better engage with key audiences.  

Mission Partners began with a landscape audit of API’s peers, as well as a series of in-depth interviews with members of the API community. Through this process, Mission Partners discovered that API’s legacy brand was not effectively communicating the fresh and forward-thinking work of the organization. Carrie Fox led the team through a design thinking session to help unlock the future of the brand, which also informed new messaging and a new visual identity, which were formalized in a new brand and style guide. The Mission Partners’ team then applied the new brand to a refreshed and user-friendly website and brand materials.  

API’s new brand and accessible website was met with an enthusiastic response from its community and received recognition from GDUSA in their 2023 American Graphic Design Awards for branding and identity programs.

Kristine Neil

Fractional Web Partner

I'm Kristine Neil - a communications strategist who has spent 20+ years designing websites, first running a full-scale design and marketing agency, and now leading my own studio. I've been the creative director managing the work, the coder quietly fixing what others couldn't, and the strategist in the room asking why before how. Somewhere between the MBA and the other degrees, I decided web design was just one tool in a much bigger toolbox - the real work is figuring out what you're trying to say, who needs to hear it, and what's getting in the way. A website is just where all of that comes to life.

I mostly build on Squarespace, and after years deep in the platform I know how far it can go and when to push past its limits. These days, I'm especially drawn to working as a fractional partner - getting to know an organization over time and helping with whatever moves them forward, whether that's a full redesign, an ongoing hand with content and strategy, or just being the person who knows their site best. I write here about AI, UX, eCommerce, web strategy, and making the complex feel a little more human.

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