CENTER FOR THE ART OF TRANSLATION

Nonprofit Website Redesign for a Literary Arts Organization

Creating Separate, Connected Platforms for CAT and Two Lines Press

Project6 redesigned the Center for the Art of Translation’s nonprofit website by separating CAT and Two Lines Press into two connected WordPress platforms. The redesign clarified each brand’s role, supported CAT’s $17 million capital campaign, and gave Two Lines Press a dedicated ecommerce presence for books, authors, translators, and publishing news.

The Center for the Art of Translation (CAT), a literary nonprofit, is dedicated to building a more connected world through translation. Through publishing, education, events, and community programs, CAT champions international writers, translators, educators, and readers. For more than two decades, CAT has helped make literary translation more visible through its press, Two Lines Press, as well as public events and educational programs like Poetry Inside Out.

CAT brand style guide
CAT homepage on iPhone Woman browsing books in bookstore
CAT search interface on iPhone
CAT Impact reports on iPhone
CAT mobile menu on iPhone
CAT events listing on iPad
CAT Featured Books page on mobile
PROBLEM

Two brands, one site

CAT’s award-winning website, which Project6 designed and built nearly a decade ago, needed an upgrade to keep pace with the organization’s growth. CAT is now in the midst of a $17 million capital campaign to open a permanent literary and cultural center in downtown San Francisco. The center, a three-story historic building, will include an event space, a translated-literature bookstore, educational programming, and shared resources for the broader literary community. The new site needed to support this ambitious next chapter.

At the same time, Two Lines Press needed to stand on its own as a literary publishing brand. Previously, CAT and Two Lines Press shared one website, which made it harder for each to communicate clearly and serve its audiences effectively.

SOLUTION

Separate, connected platforms

Project6, a nonprofit and foundation web design agency, created a clearer digital structure by separating CAT and Two Lines Press into two distinct websites. This gave each brand space to communicate its purpose while remaining connected within a larger mission.

The CAT website is now building momentum and excitement for the upcoming brick-and-mortar center while continuing to highlight the organization’s educational programs, events, and community resources. It will leverage the third party service Book Manager to promote book sales in store.

Two Lines Press now has its own dedicated custom ecommerce website for its new releases, complete catalog of publications, authors, translators, and publishing news. Together, the two sites create a stronger brand and a clearer digital ecosystem.

Both sites were built on WordPress, giving each team a flexible, easy-to-manage platform for events, education, publishing, and campaign updates.

RESULT

A clearer future

The new structure gives CAT and Two Lines Press more focused digital platforms at a pivotal moment for the organization. The CAT site elevates the organization’s vision for a physical crossroads for translation, serving writers, translators, teachers, students, and the larger Bay Area arts community. Two Lines Press focuses more directly on book sales and its role as a publisher of translated literature.

Laptop with CAT's translator bio page
two mobile views of CAT's webpages Two Lines Press' book collection page

I couldn’t recommend working with Project6 more highly. From kickoff to launch, Project6 was attentive to our priorities and needs. Their staff is a dream. The final product is visually ravishing, but it also serves our needs better than we could have imagined.

CAT and its publisher Two Lines Press had outgrown a single shared website. Their audiences and goals differ: CAT spans education, events, community, advocacy, and fundraising, while Two Lines Press is a literary publishing brand. Separating them into two connected sites let each communicate its purpose clearly while staying part of one mission, and gave CAT a dedicated platform for its capital campaign. The campaign is CAT’s own initiative and was already underway as the new sites were built. The redesigned CAT site gives that campaign a clear public home: it tells the story of the planned literary and cultural center, explains what donations fund, and routes supporters to give. Separating Two Lines Press removed competing messaging so CAT’s mission and campaign story take center stage at a pivotal moment for the organization. It’s CAT’s first permanent home: a three-story, 7,400-square-foot historic building on Commercial Street in downtown San Francisco, originally built in 1908. Designed with Jensen Architects and planned to open in 2027, it will include an event space with livestreaming, the West Coast’s only bookstore devoted exclusively to translated literature, educational programming, and shared resources for the wider Bay Area literary community. Both sites are built on WordPress, which gives CAT’s team a flexible, easy-to-manage content platform for events, education, publishing, and campaign updates, and lets Two Lines Press run its own publishing-focused site independently. Project6 provides WordPress design and development for nonprofits and foundations. When one organization runs distinct programs or a publishing imprint, a single site often forces unrelated audiences through the same navigation and dilutes each message. Splitting into connected sites clarifies brand architecture, lets each brand speak directly to its audience, improves the user journey, and creates room for each entity to grow without losing the connection to the parent mission. 26 years. CAT has championed literary translation through Two Lines Press, Poetry Inside Out, and hundreds of public events without a space of its own. The new center, targeted to open in 2027, will be its first permanent home.

Awards

Client Award Contest Year
Center for the Art of Translation Silver/Publishing for Websites Davey Awards 2017
Center for the Art of Translation Gold/Publishing Websites W3 Awards 2017
Center for the Art of Translation Distinction/Publishing Websites Communicator Awards 2017
Center for the Art of Translation Distinction/Non-Profit Websites Communicator Awards 2017

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