And the winner is . . .Brookline Arts Center! Metropolis Creative, a branding and marketing agency with a focus on front-end user interface design, today announced the winner of its Extreme Website Makeover contest was the Brookline Arts Center. The big “Reveal” event was held last week at the Charlesmark Hotel, where many gathered in anticipation to hear who won the coveted new website.

Metropolis had more than 50 worthy entries this year, but ultimately could only choose one. A panel of judges that included Scott Kirsner of the Boston Globe, Yoon Lee, Bob Collins, Mark O’Toole and Bruce Temkin, poured through the submissions to select five finalists and one winner, based on three criteria: innovation, value and voting.

The “Before”

Brookline Arts Center (BAC) inspires and challenges artists at all levels, offering community arts programs for all ages, but their website wouldn’t necessarily tell you that. The site lacks effective branding both visually and with its messaging. The content doesn’t appear to be organized by audience or importance and there is no clear Call to Action other than to “learn more.” The Mission Statement is the most prominently featured content, which is of least importance to most site visitors.

The “After”

The post-makeover site design features a brightly colored, cohesively branded home page that brings focus to BAC’s most important offerings. The Metropolis team created a new look for the brand, starting with the logo. The new logo incorporates the BAC building, an old firehouse, since it is unique and community-focused. The team also designed a “featured” area on the homepage that rotates so BAC can highlight different programs and calls to action. Metropolis also made recommendations to improve the SEO of the site, optimized it for mobile content and helped design a cohesive look for its social media hooks, including Facebook and Twitter.

“This experience keeps getting better year after year,” said Michael Flint, founder and CEO of Metropolis Creative. “We have seen our own brand grow immensely from the contest, with folks in D.C. and Atlanta inquiring about how to launch similar contests in their cities. Brookline Arts Center went above and beyond in their quest to win − printing up business cards with our ‘Makeover’ logo on them, and a QR code back to our website so people could vote for them!”

“We are beyond ecstatic about winning the Extreme Website Makeover,” said Sean Fitzgerald, Brookline Arts Center. “For a small nonprofit, winning this contest is monumental. We feel like our online presence should reflect who we are − a vibrant community of artists. Our current website is old, difficult to navigate and a headache to update. With a new website, we can offer our students online registration and perhaps most importantly, a place to showcase their work.”

About Metropolis:

Metropolis Creative delivers compelling web, print and graphic design to attract and retain target audiences. For 13 years, Metropolis has built a portfolio of clients and success stories that showcase winning brand differentiation on the web and in print. The firm’s approach begins with brand, message and audience discovery and continues with a proposal and creative delivery solutions, for everything from logos and collateral to search-optimized websites that are easily maintained. Call +1.617.556.0010.