Transforming a Grassroots Art Project Into a City-Wide Digital Experience

What started as a simple idea—a few painted utility boxes to brighten Houston’s streets—quickly grew into a city-wide movement. Mini Murals needed a digital platform that could connect neighborhoods, showcase artists, and inspire the community. I partnered with the founder to turn their vision into a thriving online presence that made it easy for everyone to find, explore, and celebrate Houston’s public art.

Discovery

An artist and organizer in Houston approached me with a bold vision: take an art project and turn it into something bigger, accessible to everyone in Houston. Together, we brainstormed ways to expand its impact. From creating artist profiles to building an interactive map, we set out to make it easy for people to engage with the art and the stories behind it.

Design

I designed the logo and built a digital identity that reflected the creativity and vibrancy of the project. The website became the heart of the initiative, featuring an interactive map for locating murals, individual artist pages, and neighborhood pages that tied it all together. We even created scavenger hunts to encourage exploration and make discovering the art even more fun.

Develop

The website was designed to grow alongside the project, with SEO strategies in place to help more people find Mini Murals online. Every element was built to scale, making it easy to add new murals, artists, and features as the project expanded.

Learnings and review

  • Increased community engagement by connecting over 250 murals and 40+ local artists through an interactive website, driving foot traffic and participation.
  • Boosted visibility SEO optimization, ranking “Houston street art” on the first page of Google.
  • Transformed a grassroots idea into a citywide movement, earning the Keep Houston Beautiful Award and securing sponsorships for future growth.

Every time I see a Mini Mural around the city, I get excited. I love discovering new Mini Murals all the time.

Hi there!

Gibson Hall

Hi, I’m Gibson Hall — a creative strategist, web designer, and digital marketer based in Austin, TX. From boutiques and scale-ups to Fortune 500’s, I’ve helped over 50 organizations reach more customers online.