Case Study: Editorial Web Design for Brush & Bolter
A niche publishing platform for Warhammer 40,000 news, commentary and community-led long-form content.
Business Location:
Glasgow, Scotland
Website Platform:
Wix Studio
About The Business
Media & Publishing
Brush & Bolter is an independent editorial website focused on Warhammer 40,000 news, commentary, hobby culture, and community-led discussion. The platform is positioned as a niche publication with a clear point of view: thoughtful long-form writing, human-authored content, and a cleaner reading experience free from intrusive advertising.
The brand needed a digital platform that could support both editorial credibility and long-term growth. That meant building more than a blog feed. Brush & Bolter required a structured publishing system capable of organising content by faction, topic, and editorial theme, while also supporting audience trust, search visibility, and a premium support model through Patreon and the Sanctioned Signal newsletter.
The Challenges The Business Faced
The obstacles that Modemkiller would help overcome:
Despite being a new independent brand in a crowded content space, Brush & Bolter needed to launch with presence and credibility. From a content strategy perspective, the challenge was to build for scale before the post volume existed. That meant supporting long-form articles, category-led browsing, topic-based discovery, and search-friendly structure from the outset.
There was also a commercial and operational layer to solve. Brush & Bolter is intentionally positioned as an ad-free publication, which meant the website needed to support a value journey built around reader trust and Patreon-backed support.
Engagement Scope & Project Goals
New editorial website, content architecture, CMS publishing system and SEO foundations
Create a credible independent platform for commentary
make long-form articles easy to publish and discover
protect an advert-free reading experience
Educate readers on the Sanctioned Signal newsletter
build clear routes into Patreon-supported membership
Key Impacts & Successes
Early Search Growth & Measurable Engagement
The finished Wix-based publishing platform is now producing measurable favourable evidence. Between 31 March and 14 September 2026, Google Search recorded 21,681 impressions and 230 clicks. Monthly impressions rose from 308 in April to 7,578 in August, while average search position improved from 13.17 to 8.32. Separately, Wix Blog Analytics recorded 729 post views across 15 published articles, a 59-second average reading time and 76.1% average scroll depth.
High impressions from launch
Impressions up 2360% over 5 months
76% average scroll depth
Average position of 8.32
Impressions Up By:
2360
Project Outcomes
An Editorial Platform Earning Search Visibility and Reader Attention
Featured Capabilities
Editorial, Design and Technical Disciplines Applied to the Build
Project Progression
From Editorial Proposition to a Working Publishing System
The 6-week project was developed around Brush & Bolter’s editorial model rather than a fixed collection of static pages. Each stage connected brand positioning, content structure and publishing operations so the finished website could support both current output and future growth.
Stage Tasks & Responsibilities
Quality Assurance & Delivery
A Publishing Foundation Designed for Ongoing Use
Deliverables included strategy, information architecture, visual design, Wix Studio implementation, CMS configuration and launch support. The finished website was prepared as a working editorial system, with the templates, structure and launch checks needed for repeat publishing.
Implementation Rationale
Wix Studio, Structured CMS & Human-Led Editorial Control
Wix Studio was used to combine responsive design control with CMS-led publishing. The implementation supports reusable article layouts, homepage curation, archive search, topic-led discovery and ongoing editing without requiring each new article to be built as a standalone page.
The Role of Artificial Intelligence
AI Supports Research. It Never Publishes Articles.
AI Provides Clever Automation That Frees Up Time for Human Creativity.
Brush & Bolter is an independent publisher positioned around the value of human-authored commentary. Its writiers are held accountable for the content they create and their editorial judgement. AI assists in research and administrative tasks where appropriate, but the analysis, interpretation and reader-subscriber facing publications remain human-led.
Brush & Bolter stipulates that Sanctioned Signal is a vibe-coded application created through the power of Base44. Sanctioned Signal aggregates human-led content to show directly to Patreon subscribers — using AI to ensure community members can use a single platform to find, visit and consume human-led publications and video from across the Warhammer 40,000 community.
