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.