The first class of 150 freshmen—aspiring dancers, visual artists, musicians and actors—walked through the doors of ChiArts last September. Good Studio developed the visual identity and designed the website for Chicago's brand new public high school for the arts.

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We created a memorable acronym and a mark that projects ideal qualities of the school's students: confident, strong, youthful but disciplined.

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Months before the school had a location or staff, ChiArts needed to build anticipation, answer questions and encourage application. We designed a temporary site that used motion, music and aspirational images to spark excitement, and content that helped educate parents about the strength of a program that integrates intensive training in the arts with a college preparatory curriculum. 

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Design of the permanent site, with site development by Methodtree, retains a strong visual connection to the temporary site for continuity and focuses on maximum functionality. The home page offers clear paths to content in a "touchscreen" format, with most timely info foregrounded; parents see at a glance when report cards are coming or Junior is performing. A full-featured, flexible CMS allows ChiArts staff to create pages with ease; as photos of ChiArts' new students in action become available, the site becomes ever richer.