Utile Design
A website redesign for one of Boston's most rigorous architecture and planning firms, built to earn the trust of a client that designs for a living.
Client
Utile Design via Temper And Forge
Scope
Web Design, Development
Year
2025
About
Utile is one of Boston's most wide-ranging design practices, with award-winning work across architecture, planning, interiors, and graphic design. Their website hadn't been touched in over ten years and no longer matched the firm it represented.
I led the strategy and design phases of the redesign, setting the creative direction and steering the client through every major decision.
strategy
Utile doesn't win work through its website directly. Clients show up already knowing the firm, usually through an award, a piece of press, recommendation, or a project bid.
That made the site a point of confirmation rather than a funnel - an unusual setting for a redesign.
Its job was to answer the questions of someone who already wanted to work with Utile, and to do it without getting in the way of the work itself. In fact, showcasing the work cleanly was of peak importance for the project.
details
I presented three art directions, each interpreting Utile's in-house brand refresh as a different kind of site. The client responded to two of them. Instead of forcing a choice, I combined their strongest ideas into one direction, which proved sharper than any of the three on its own.
details
A client consisting of designers raises the bar for quality considerably. The craft has to hold up to a trained eye, and someone has to defend it when the room drifts.
At a few points the team pushed for choices that fell short of the quality their own brand demanded. I laid out the problem directly, argued for the better version, and tied each decision back to the standards they set for themselves.
That kind of candor, designer to designer, is what the relationship ran on.
results
The site launched in September 2025. Organic traffic climbed, pulled in by the awards and press coverage the new SEO was built to surface, and visitors spent longer inside the project pages once they arrived.
The firm has kept us on in an advisory capacity since launch day; a symbol of the collective trust built during the duration of our working relationship.
quote
"Connor really cared about the design & getting it just right. There was a lot of engagement and education along the way. As a design firm, we really appreciated that."
Alison Price
Director of Marketing & Communications, Utile
Credits
Connor Pendery
Director of Design
James Macon
Director of Development