Design Dispatch
emerald.design
LION Charter SchoolHey Reader, There’s a big difference between a website that shares information and one that reflects a tight-knit community. When LION Charter School came to us, their website wasn’t inherently “broken,” but it wasn’t doing them justice either. A few things you need to know is that LION is a K–12 charter school in the Bronx that serves over 1,000 students each year. Their student body and households are also…
They’re a school built on pride, accountability, and real support systems and yet, they would receive feedback that their website made it nearly impossible to find what someone was searching for. More specifically, families were landing on pages, staying for a bit, and then bouncing back to the homepage trying to figure out where to go next. No clear user journey or mapped experience that effortlessly funneled readers to the place(s) they needed to go. We opted for a brand refresh and a website overhaul, so we could make all of the information that parents, students, and community members alike as easy to find as possible. But there was a much deeper problem: at its core, their website didn’t feel like it did when you walked through the LION Charter School. It didn’t reflect the energy of the students, the strength of the families, or the pride of the community—and that gap matters. Because when your website is the front door to your organization, it should feel like you and how it feels in real life. LION Charter had a great brand already established, it just needed a few upgrades in how it was applied, so instead of starting from scratch, we evolved what already existed. During this project, we also focused on LION’s website so we could reimagine how families, staff, and community members actually experience their digital presence day-to-day. And while the project touched every part of their website, here are 8 changes that made the biggest impact:1. Reworking how their existing color palette shows up across the site by using their full palette in a way that’s bolder, easier to read, and more reflective of the energy of the Bronx 2. Using color strategically as a way to guide action by introducing red buttons for high-priority pages like Apply, yellow for urgent updates like school closures and delays, and cooler tones for secondary navigation so families quickly understand where to click 3. Simplifying the site structure to eliminate the “looping” behavior we saw in user testing (where families would land on a page, get stuck, and return to the homepage), creating clearer pathways to key resources 4. Making high-traffic, high-importance information—like applications, calendars, and family resources—much easier to find without having to dig through dense or repetitive content 5. Designing with mobile as the primary user experience, knowing that many families are accessing the LION site from phones or tablets, not desktops 6. Bringing the school to life through real photography that highlights the energy of students, staff, and classrooms. 7. Introducing a more dynamic, high-energy visual style (inspired by brands like Nike) to reflect the pride, movement, and ambition that defines LION’s community 8. Creating a structure that supports multiple audience segments at once—from families applying, to staff exploring careers, to community members looking to get involved. Getting to design for an organization like LION is exactly the kind of high-impact work we like to get our hands on. Because we know how important that communicating clearly through a website is something families rely on to find information, make decisions, and stay connected to their child’s education. By giving LION a clearer, more intuitive website, a more dynamic use of their existing brand, and a structure that actually supports how families navigate it day-to-day, their digital presence now feels like a true extension of the school itself—welcoming, easy to use, and reflective of the pride and energy of their community. Click through the full LION website here. If you’re building something that people depend on in a real way, your website should rise to meet that standard without a second thought. Think that’s got your name all over it? Take a look at our pricing guide here or fill out this form and tell us about your next project. Now booking projects for Q3 Until next time, |
Design Dispatch
emerald.design