The Brief
Swansea is home to a thriving creative community, but the talent and opportunities within the city often go unnoticed. Swansea Council’s Creative Swansea initiative aimed to champion world-class creatives while also attracting external investment to the region. The project provided a platform for creatives to connect, collaborate, and grow, unlocking funding, job opportunities, and networking. By showcasing the city’s vibrant creative sector, the goal was to position Swansea as a key hub for creativity and innovation, driving both local growth and external investment.
The Pain Point
When we began developing the Creative Swansea platform, it became clear that the existing brand didn’t fully represent the people of Swansea. This disconnect led to low interaction and limited investment from local creatives. To address this, we built a new brand that honours Swansea’s raw, grassroots heritage while embracing a bold vision for the future. Our aim was to create something authentic and relatable, reflecting the true character of the people it represents, while inspiring confidence and showcasing the city’s ambition. The Creative Swansea brand connects deeply with the local community, while also captivating and energising those beyond its borders, drawing in fresh opportunities and support.
The Platform
To ensure the Creative Swansea platform was both functional and user-centric, I conducted four workshops—one with key stakeholder groups to understand their strategic targets, and three with user groups to identify the essential features needed for a truly usable platform. These workshops provided valuable insights into what would make the platform an integral part of the daily creative process for Swansea’s artists and creators. The goal was to build a long-term, engaged community that showcased the strength in numbers of Swansea’s creative sector.
The workshops involved open table dialogue and task-based testing, where participants were asked to explore and critique similar platforms. This process allowed me to gather direct feedback on frustrations, needs, and desires, ultimately shaping the platform’s architecture and functionality. From these sessions, I developed six key user personas, each representing a different audience within the creative community. These personas were critical in addressing specific pain points and ensuring the platform met the diverse needs of its users.
Please find below a collection of screenshots from the current stage of the development site.
The Results
Thanks to thorough qualitative research methods, I was able to create a platform that truly serves the Creative Swansea community. The result is a clean, modern design featuring bold colours and striking imagery, combined with a carefully crafted user experience that encourages interaction and fosters collaboration and growth. This design reflects the city’s vibrant creative energy, while ensuring functionality that speaks directly to the needs of its users.
Since sharing the functioning prototype with key members of both the target audience and the council body, the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. With over 100 people already on the sign-up waiting list before the platform's official launch, it's clear that Creative Swansea is set to make a lasting impact, offering both a valuable resource for local creatives and a powerful tool for attracting external opportunities.
