I
Identity System
Modern Vibrancy, Timeless Excellence
The Baltimore School for the Arts identity system is designed to resonate with both educational excellence and the vibrance of the student body, staff and curriculum.
We knew that capturing the magic of Baltimore School for the Arts in an identity system was a lofty goal, but it was crucial to reorient the perception of this well-respected institution as a thought-leader in the future of arts education. The school was eager to convey its commitment to preparing students for real-world arts opportunities. It was especially important to leverage their impressive offering of interdisciplinary programming and their state of the art resources. This message was important for prospective students and parents, and an essential step in positioning for the expansion of the school’s donation base. Mission worked closely with staff and supporters to create a logo and identity system that could provide a platform for their strategic plan. Then, we reimagined the school’s online experience: we designed, developed and launched a website that captured the vibrant and energetic spirit of the school, and made updating the community with the latest news and events an easy A for staff. After launching this new online environment, our team set to work overhauling the audition and registration database for the school’s TWIGS after-school art program. We streamlined data input, improved data manipulation tools and enriched the opportunity for data analysis by working closing with the TWIGS staff to understand their process and needs. Now the school has a cohesive set of guidelines to use as they convey their value to the arts community, and a fully customized set of tools to enhance their communication and information management goals.
Identity, Collateral, Environmental, Advertising, Web Design, Development & Integration, Custom CMS
Arts Organizations, Education
The Baltimore School for the Arts identity system is designed to resonate with both educational excellence and the vibrance of the student body, staff and curriculum.
We combined a bold, bright sans serif type with remnants of the school's older, script-style logo to create a new identity that honors the legacy of the institution while embracing the future with excitement.
From academic leadership to the tireless development team, student success remains the unwavering purpose. A confident, elegant set of collateral reinforces this purpose and unifies staff across all departments within the school.
Spreading the enthusiasm of a robust community means creating items that can be worn with pride. From bright, bold colors on apparel to untreated photography of students engaged in what they love, our external collateral items tell a story and rally a sense of pride and unity between alumni, students, parents and staff.
We were excited to create texture and ambiance for the school's common areas by using actual notes and doodles from student notebooks. This choice reflects that the school belongs to students; a safe place for dreams to flourish and ideas to bloom.
This environment is more than walls. It is a spark for creativity and an incubator for abstract thought.
Direct, digestible content and simple navigation makes it easy for students, parents, alumni and supporters to find information. A robust, easy-to-update online calendar and convenient CTAs keeps visitors engaged with the day-to-day.
There are a lot of moving parts to the school, including multiple arts departments, so we built a site that showcases everything in an engaging but easily-navigated interface. Floating, modular, puzzle pieces convey a feeling of adaptability and harmony.
As an online hub for the latest activities within the bustling community, the website functions as both a news platform and an archive of notable events and alumni. Staff can update the site with ease, 3rd-party integrations are intuitive, and the site displays dynamic elegantly.
Versatility is a non-negotiable when audiences need access to events, deadlines at-home, in the classroom, and on-the-go. Information is easy to find and easy to digest so that those that support the students can stay involved.
For many students and families, the BSA relationship begins with TWIGS. As a free after school program, funding is crucial to the future of this immensely valuable pillar of Baltimore's arts education landscape. Funding is data-driven and BSA needed a way to identify the obvious success of this program with indisputable figures. We set out to create a tool that not only streamlines the TWIGS audition process for staff and applicants, but also captures and tracks data that will become the basis for future support.
Not only does the custom, core database make reporting easy and adaptable, the external interface is also a breeze to navigate for nervous parents and students registering on their big audition day. Staff also benefit greatly from a streamlined application-to-acceptance tracker that allows them to spend more time assessing potential and less time sorting paperwork.
We love working with Mission because they understand the school's needs and everything they work on turns to gold. From start to finish, every project we have worked on with Mission has been flawless, creative, and most importantly fun!