For any organization, redesigning your website can be a little like giving birth. It’s messy, it can be scary at times, there’s a pretty solid deadline and at the end you have magically created something special. Color me dramatic, but today I have the great honor to welcome the newly re-imagined adcouncil.org into the world both as it’s biggest fan (Smokey, call me!) and as one of its midwives.

When Ad Council approached Beaconfire about this monumental project, the FanGirl in me let out an embarrassing little squeal. What self respecting, red blooded Creative Director wouldn’t be thrilled at the chance to help one of the most iconic American brands reinvent itself online? We couldn’t wait to get started.

As the complexity of our task sank in I’ll admit to a few … small… moments of panic.  Ya know, like… Would we be able to do justice to Ad Council’s incredible 70 year legacy? How could we represent the massive depth and breath of their body of work in an accessible and engaging way?  Would the technical requirements for all that media be a roadblock? OH! And what if we weren’t able to translate Ad Council’s unerring creative vision effectively to the web? And.. And.. And… #omg

These seemingly overwhelming concerns (along with a laundry list of many more) are likely familiar to any organization as they start down the path of a site redesign. So how do you take that first step? It may be simple, but I truly believe that success boils down to a children’s riddle: How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

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