Friends Academy 1810

the challenge

Friends Academy approached Beam & Hinge at a moment when it faced increasing competition for student enrollment in the region. The school needed to highlight its tradition, its strong sense of community, and its specialty offerings for students with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalculia. The site needed to serve as an operational command center for currently enrolled families and as a marketing tool for potential students and their families.

the solution

• To address current and potential Friends Academy families clearly, we implemented a double-navigation bar that separated information and functions for the two groups.
• It was important to school leadership that the site embody the school’s friendly, open environment. Curved lines and organic shapes loosen the formality of a school that’s operated for more than 200 years, while the occasional use of textures found on campus harkens to its rich history.
• The Friends Academy website holds a considerable amount of written content. Design choices as seemingly simple as font size, spacing, and information chunking keep the information accessible, not overwhelming.