I was tasked with developing a new introductory brochure for the Richmond Montessori School through a 24-hour team-based project known as CreateAthon. The project is designed to get students with experience in communications and public relations to help nonprofits better connect with customers and clients.
These are two of the pages from the new and improved Montessori brochure. It will be the first thing perspective parents will see. The concept that drove the piece is conveying that the Richmond Montessori School is a journey for the child. Children start out as new students at RMS. As they progress through the school on their journey, they become a student of the state, then of the country, and then of the world. We emphasized this with different vectors in the background of the booklet’s pages that reflects the curriculum and program information. These vectors help show that at each of the stages, the child is growing in their sense of perspective.
The greens and blues reflect the brand colors of RMS, while images were selected to better share the campus and student’s activities, the copy is written in first person to more accessible and comfortable which will appeal to parents. Along with the program copy, we included a quote from a RMS graduate to communicate how the school has affected her life beyond RMS. This quote fit well theme of the booklet, as it conveys a deeper sense of what the graduate gained from her time at Richmond Montessori School. The booklet was designed to fit into an envelope for mailings and can be available at events as well.
In the fall of 2015, RMS will be celebrating their 50th anniversary and provides an ideal time to highlight their history and impact. A logo was created to use on appropriate communications piece. A golden sash was added across the original logo in order to remain consistent. The RMS logo has strong equity and it will be important for viewers to see the connection to the standard logo.
The Fact Sheet was created to express the unique aspects of the Montessori School to parents in an easy, digestible form. The intent is for to be used as a secondary component to the promotional booklet. The colors were chosen to align with the logo and to better represent the Montessori school environment. The stats were picked to show how and what kind of atmosphere the child will be learning in.
The current tagline, “A World of Difference,” doesn’t reflect the holistic educational experience provided by RMS. With the new motto, we focus on the unique quality of the school: that RMS is a journey for the child. This tagline will help communicate that RMS is a place not only to start your child on a learning journey but also to inspire them to continue on to learn and grow. The students will discover more about the school, themselves, and the world around them.
The video was created to be put on RMS’s website. The goal of the piece is to show visitors what it would be like for a child to attend the school. We included integral parts of the RMS campus in the video such as the giant globe in the middle of the school, the wishing woods in the back of campus, the school’s buildings, and the interior of the classrooms. All of these images convey the special qualities RMS has that make it unique to the Montessori principles. We chose to focus on children in this video to showcase their joy and their activities. An emotional appeal is an effective way to inspire an audience. Our intention is that this video helps parents see that the Richmond Montessori School is a great opportunity for their child.