The Paris American Academy is France’s first bilingual design school, catering to an international cohort of students in fashion and interior design, fine arts and creative writing. They needed a website that would deliver a premium online experience to promote the Academy and drive enrolments.
- Digital Strategy
- UX & UI Design
- Responsive Design
- Custom Enrolment Process
- Intuitive Content Management
Recognition
CommArts Webpicks
The user's perspective
With our client so immersed in their internal knowledge, understanding the school’s entire proposition meant bridging a vast context gap before starting work in earnest.
This early hurdle, however, allowed us to identify more closely with our target audience, appreciating the challenges students would face, and thus devising a more precise website strategy for the end user.
Online enrolments, designed for simplicity
We redesigned a confusing paper-based form to make it clear and simple with the ability to apply and pay online.
A complete brand experience extends beyond any online platform. But, as online enrolment is a student’s first significant encounter with the Academy, it was essential to ensure a smooth process to both encourage conversion and predispose users favourably toward the brand.
Purpose-driven aesthetics
The homepage is a statement piece, greeting visitors with a powerful brand device that consolidates all the available study streams. We drew aesthetic inspiration from European design and magazine layouts to emulate the feel of a high-end print brochure.
Versatile design for elegant visuals
A clean, minimal look and feel frames the diversity of colour and art styles in the endless supply of impressive imagery. This approach was particularly important in the News and Student Work sections, home to the site’s most dynamic content and most susceptible to the long-term challenges in content management.
Editorial comes to life
The contemporary, responsive, full-width editorial layout encourages audience engagement. Fluid typography techniques guarantee foolproof display of copy on any device. Information comes to life thanks to animations and other enhancements, while a performance-priority implementation ensures butter-smooth browsing across the site.
World-class presentation
Designed to suit a range of content, the overall visual approach allows brilliant student work to shine, while an elegant “exploded grid” fortifies and accentuates the school’s key messages.
