New Day School

Website: New Day School

Project Objectives

Develop an organic and inviting brand identity

Update the structure of the website to meet the needs of multiple users

Share the unique and touching story of the school while communicating clear information for current and prospective parents

The Process and Approach

New Day School’s website was no longer reflective of the school’s identity. We wanted to soften the color palette, use more organic and natural tones, and modernize the feel. We also identified multiple users and audiences of the website – prospective parents, current parents, and community members.

Grounded in users’ needs, we knew we needed an intuitive and thoughtful structure to get people the information they needed.

We also had an opportunity to tell the story of New Day School, as users seek out hours of operation and other simple facts.

Visual Identity

We first tackled the logo, bringing in the hand-crafted artwork done by a former teacher at the school that lives on a sign out front. Using an organic and soothing color palette, and modern fonts, we were able to soften the visual identity and align it with the school’s mission and vision.

We further reflected the organic nature of the school with soft image shapes of natural elements and happy children.

Content Strategy

A long-standing institution in Portland, New Day School is deeply committed to environmentalism and growing kids into civic-minded citizens.

They recently undertook a major reconstruction of their infrastructure and are now the first net zero preschool in the state of Oregon. These core tenets of who they are, rooted in Neo-humanism, are what make it so unique and it was important to communicate this to potential families looking for the right place to send their children. These parents also need the details like cost and hours, as well as to get to know the policies of the school.

There was also a need for currently enrolled families to find information and paperwork quickly.

We focused the bulk of the website on attracting new families and showcasing the mission and vision of the school. We also created a password-protected parent portal for enrolled families to easily find what they need.

Schoolhouse Supplies

Website: Schoolhouse Supplies

Project Objectives

Restructure content to simplify navigation and drive users where they need

Create a mobile-friendly website

Brighten and enliven brand to reflect the core mission of the organization

The Process and Approach

Schoolhouse Supplies came to us with a tight deadline. They wanted to update their outdated website to be mobile friendly before a fundraising push during year one of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Schoolhouse Supplies provides free school supplies to Portland area teachers and students, ensuring no child is ever without a pencil. Supporting them on their rebrand and website update was such an honor.

Visual Identity

Providing school supplies to kids? Their brand needed to be fun, light and friendly. Keeping their logo, we elevated the colors to create some joy, applying it in more places to evoke lightness and happiness. We brought in crayon-like elements to create layers and texture. We were careful not to make it childlike, continuing to present the organization as respected and established, ensuring trust.

User Experience

We restructured the site, removing older, no longer useful content, combining and separating others as needed. The organization had multiple audiences—donors supporting the organization through donations and attending events, teachers and schools scheduling supply shopping, parents purchasing supplies, and volunteers reaching out.

From analytics we knew that most visitors were mobile to the website. And the website wasn’t supporting their mobile viewing. We considered various user journeys and how we could support each experience.

An intuitive structure and a mobile-first design was out priority. We also developed a color system to group website sections visually.

Website Design and Development

Applying our updated brand to a fun, mobile-first website resulted in a much more straightforward experience for every visitor. We went live on time and the fundraiser was a huge success.

“Thank you Cameron for helping Schoolhouse Supplies create an incredible new website on an incredibly short timeline. Cameron understands and appreciates the work of a nonprofit and you can see it in how well our new website communicates to our supporters and clients. Perfection!”

— Executive Director

Code of Support Foundation

Website: Code of Support Foundation

Project Objectives

Create an inviting and modern visual identity

Restructure the website to meet the needs of multiple users

Highlight the excellent work of the foundation in an intuitive and engaging manner

The Process and Approach

The Code of Support Foundation’s website had a hard to navigate structure. That meant visitors seeking the immediate support of the Foundation were struggling to find what they need. The visual identity was also outdated and lacked cohesion.

Visual Identity

We first revised the visual elements of the brand, keeping their logo and building a color palette and typography to match a new era for the organization. We kept it patriotic, but modernized the cohesive identity.

Content Strategy

The website had grown very large and flat. It lacked hierarchy and an intuitive structure to the content. This meant that visitors had trouble finding what they were looking for and the organization had trouble highlighting what mattered. Connecting these two needs was the basis for our content strategy.

User Experience

We restructured the site, combining certain content and separating others. We prioritized the needs of the veterans seeking support, driving them to help and the services of the Foundation as quickly as possible.

Website Design and Development

Pulling it all together we built wireframes that met visitors needs, and displayed the full breadth of services and programs offered by the Foundation. Applying our visual style, it all came together.