Clearwater County Public Works
Website + civic communications system — clear public information online, in print, in the field, and at every facility.
Clearwater County didn't just need a new website. They needed a clearer way to communicate public projects, service alerts, permits, and maintenance updates across every touchpoint — online, in print, in the field, and at public facilities. So Optimistic created one flexible visual system that works everywhere: the website, posters, brochures, public-meeting materials, road-closure notices, banners, business cards, vehicle decals, hard hats, and project signage. This is a concept piece, built to demonstrate our approach; the county is illustrative.
We don't redesign a county website. We turn it into a civic operating system.
Clearwater County's website had grown the way most government sites do — page by page, PDF by PDF, department by department. Information about roads, utilities, parks, permits, closures, public notices, and infrastructure projects was scattered and stale. The people responsible for keeping the public informed were stuck with a digital presence that made them look disorganized.
The cost was real: residents couldn't find urgent updates, staff drowned in repeat phone calls, public notices were hard to reach, and accessibility gaps quietly eroded trust. Worst of all, after every redesign, no one knew who owned what content. The brief wasn't a prettier site — it was clarity that lasts.
One journey, applied to Clearwater County Public Works.
Audit & architecture
We mapped everything residents actually need and collapsed scattered pages and PDFs into a small set of clear tasks, written in plain language — closures, permits, payments, requests, notices.
Resident Action Center
A search-first homepage with top-task tiles, so the most common answers are one tap away on any device — no department org chart required.
Radical transparency
Live road closures, public notices, and a project status dashboard with real percentages and completion dates — the county, open by default.
Governance & accessibility
WCAG 2.1 AA components and a clear content-ownership model with CMS roles and training, so the site stays accurate and accessible long after launch.
We also built the brand the site stands on.
When Clearwater County came to us for a website, there wasn't really a brand to build it on — a dated seal, a grab-bag of blues, and no system anyone could apply the same way twice.
So before a single page, we created the identity: a mark, a palette, a typeface, and a voice — the Current system. Then we built the website, the print, and the field communications on top of it. One team, one coherent result.
Inside the Clearwater brand book.
A civic identity built for clarity: a calm, trustworthy mark, a legible palette, plain-spoken type, and a voice that leads with the answer — so residents find what they need and the county looks as organized as it actually is.
A single droplet sends three ripples outward, opening into a "C" for Clearwater — water, a current of service, and information flowing out to the community. Keep clear space equal to the droplet; never recolor the ripples or stretch the mark.
One brand, every touchpoint.
A county doesn't communicate only on a website. So we built a flexible system that holds together everywhere residents meet the county — online, in print, in the field, and at public facilities. Same mark, same voice, same clarity, whether it's a homepage or a door hanger.
A civic operating system, not just a website
Resident Action Center
A search bar plus the county's top tasks — report a pothole, pay a bill, apply for a permit, check a closure — front and center on every screen.
Road closures & alerts
A live, plain-language list of what's closed, delayed, or reopened, with a high-visibility emergency banner reserved for the moments that matter.
Project status dashboard
Every active project with a real status, location, percent complete, and completion date. No guessing, no stale PDFs.
Permits & requests
Apply, track, and pay online — building, right-of-way, grading, and utility connections, all in one predictable flow.
Public notices, findable
Hearings, bids, and official postings in one searchable, dated feed instead of buried attachments.
Accessible & governed
AA-accessible, mobile-first components and a content-ownership model so the site stays current and compliant after launch.
Fewer phone calls. More answers.
A task-first civic platform: residents self-serve the basics, staff get out from under repeat calls, and every project and notice is open by default. Names and data shown here are illustrative concepts.