Whiteboard

The Hunter Museum of American Art stands by the core belief that art should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their background or formal education. Their mission emphasizes art's power to connect communities, share perspectives, and help process the world around us. The Hunter partnered with us to transform their digital presence into an inviting, exploration-centric platform that would drive in-person visits while making art accessible to anyone engaging with the museum —?in-person or online. Explore their new website ?? https://lnkd.in/gqRjw3xs

SOMETIMES SCALE RUNS DEEP, NOT WIDE by Jason Locy Brett Hagler is in the foundations business. Coming out of Y-Combinator in 2014, Brett and his co-founders were staring at the global housing crisis and imagining a better way to solve it than the typical charity playbook. So, they founded New Story. New Story focuses their work in Latin America, where roughly 70% of the adult population is unbanked and cannot access affordable housing loans. Through innovative programs that they developed, New Story subverts the traditional model of home selling, lending, and buying. This new “housing market” not only creates an entry point into affordable and sustainable housing but also a pathway towards generational wealth. Brett recently joined Whiteboard during a team meeting to discuss New Story’s future. Brett told us that in 2025, New Story is not so much worried about getting bigger but, instead, getting better. “Better things grow,” he said. Brett builds foundations for homes, of course, but he also builds a foundation for future generations to inherit an asset. And now Brett is doing some foundational thinking by focusing on better over bigger. Sometimes scale runs deep, not wide. How do you think about your work? Maybe you run spreadsheets that track profitability or are in the middle of a fundraising round. Or, maybe you develop strategies to increase market share and gain new customers. Maybe you keep projects on time. Or perhaps you design digital experiences. It doesn’t matter because what you do isn’t that. What you actually do — if you can imagine it and embrace it — is you tear off corners of darkness and you let light into the world. This is not specific to working at a non-profit or a positive impact company, or an agency like Whiteboard. This is specific to a way of seeing the world and being in the world. I’d encourage us all to spend a few minutes thinking through our work. Like Brett at New Story, how can we imagine different systems that repair? How can we build strong foundations for growth? How can we imagine scale as something that goes more deep, more local maybe, than it does wide? [Link to the entire article in the comments]

HEART MEDICINE After hearing Stefan Sagmeister’s thought provoking presentation “Can Design Touch a Heart” at the AIGA National Conference in 1999, Paul Rustand was inspired to bring the legendary designer to Chattanooga, Tennessee to give the same presentation. After settling on a date in November 2000, Paul set out to create an invitation design as interesting as the talk. In collaboration with Sagmeister, Paul landed on a final design based on the concept of heart medication. The invitation was a two-phase design, with the first phase being a prescription pad mailed out and the presentation info written out in that format. The second phase was mailed out two weeks later. It was a small box that contained a prescription pill bottle. In the bottle was one capsule. In the capsule was a 14-inch long invitation with information printed on it. Since regular paper could only be folded in half so many times, the invitation was printed on tracing paper, which folded easier and allowed for a longer size. The information was letterpress printed on the tracing paper. After the presentation, Paul collected compliments, kind words, and thank-yous from the attendees who shared them and packaged them up, each inside a capsule. He collected them all into a large pill bottle and sent them on to Stefan with instructions that any time he felt down, he should open one up.

We’re thrilled that Blake Lam is speaking at CreativeMornings/Chattanooga this Friday! We hope we’ll see you there (even if you’re not a morning person). Register here ?? https://lnkd.in/gYuKMKq9 About Blake: Blake Lam is a web developer and designer working at Whiteboard. Blake’s been on a journey navigating tensions surrounding race, family, work, and identity. Originally from small town Virginia, Blake moved to Chattanooga in 2021 after a stint in Memphis, where he worked as a middle school math teacher and director of operations. Blake loves books, long walks, coffee, baking, and making things better. Blake lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee with his wife and three little ones.

Overflow is redefining the way we give, with a mission to create the world’s most focused and accessible giving platform. By bridging the gap between intention and action, Overflow is building a generous future where giving—whether in cash, crypto, stock, or complex assets—is seamless, intuitive, and impactful. We crafted a brand that seamlessly bridges FinTech with a sense of purpose. You can check out the full case study here: https://lnkd.in/ezYPDKNM

In 2024, our team served 140+ clients across our practice areas (brand, platforms, marketing, and support), spanning from Fortune 500s, global non-profits, scrappy startups, and individuals willing to take a risk on their ideas to design a meaningful future. Our work is made of many layers: · The work we make for others · The work we lead internally · The work we do to serve our community and industry The showcase below highlights the organizations and work our team served last year, though it does not include everything we accomplished. Giddy up! https://lnkd.in/dfWCE8qq

Today, we’re celebrating Nick Blackmon’s 10-year anniversary (or as Kody Dahl calls it, “A Millennial Century”). It was on this day that he walked into our office as a marketing intern and immediately started making a difference here. His commitment, loyalty, and impact has been experienced by so many over the past decade. Nick embodies Whiteboard’s mission and we’re incredibly grateful for him! Cheers to the next decade, Nick!

A few weeks ago, Taylor and I (Eric) had a conversation with one of our dearest and longstanding clients. They asked a question on how our services have evolved this year and Taylor answered him by saying, “More than any deliverable we create — our primary job is help leaders expand their visionary capacity.” We believe “visionary capacity” is the ability to imagine, articulate, and pursue possibilities that challenge the status quo. It involves foresight, creative problem-solving, and the skill to inspire and align others toward a compelling future. It combines strategic thinking with the courage to take bold action and adapt to change, fostering innovation, and long-term impact. In 2025, our greatest hope for you is that your visionary capacity grows for what you’re in the middle of leading or for what you’re about to start. Here to serve, Eric, Taylor, and the Whiteboard team

A few weeks ago, Taylor and I (Eric) had a conversation with one of our dearest and longstanding clients. They asked a question on how our services have evolved this year and Taylor answered him by saying, “More than any deliverable we create — our primary job is help leaders expand their visionary capacity.” We believe “visionary capacity” is the ability to imagine, articulate, and pursue possibilities that challenge the status quo. It involves foresight, creative problem-solving, and the skill to inspire and align others toward a compelling future. It combines strategic thinking with the courage to take bold action and adapt to change, fostering innovation, and long-term impact. In 2025, our greatest hope for you is that your visionary capacity grows for what you’re in the middle of leading or for what you’re about to start. Here to serve, Eric, Taylor, and the Whiteboard team

Joyfully, - Whiteboard