The connection was already there.
Surrey Urban Indigenous Leadership Committee (SUILC) brings people together to advance the priorities of Surrey’s urban Indigenous community. Its work spans research, advocacy and gathering, with relationships at the heart of it all.
People spoke warmly about those relationships. The website was another story. Even people familiar with SUILC struggled to find its research, and the connection between the committee’s work and Skookum Surrey’s activities needed a clearer explanation.
We spoke with Elders, community leaders, staff and municipal partners to understand what people valued, what they came looking for and what deserved more attention.
Community photography leads the homepage, with SUILC’s existing colours and graphic elements bringing continuity and character to the design.
Let the community lead the picture.
The feeling people described at gatherings gave us a direction for the design: welcoming, lively and full of personal connection.
We brought large photographs of community life to the foreground, carrying the colours and graphic elements of SUILC’s existing identity through the site. First-person stories sit alongside research and organizational information, keeping the people behind the work in view.
Together, these choices give the website a stronger sense of who SUILC is, where it works and why its work matters.
A clear introduction and prominent download link give SUILC’s research a more useful home, with layouts designed for reading across screen sizes.
Give the useful things a clear home.
The website also had practical work to do. Someone looking for a gathering and someone looking for a research report needed equally clear routes through it.
We reorganized the research library and gave events, news and reports a more prominent place in the site structure. Prototype testing let us check everyday tasks with users, revealing where labels, page layouts and invitations needed to be clearer.
The finished WordPress site brings SUILC’s work together across desktop, tablet and mobile, with an emphasis on straightforward content management for its team. Community stories, opportunities to participate and research now share a home that reflects their connection.
“The outcome of this project is a beautiful website that really captures the heart of SUILC.”
Harriet VanWart, Senior Adviser, SUILC
