Baltimore Design Firm Donates its Services to Waldorf School of Baltimore

Baltimore-based Younts Design Inc. has donated several design services to the Waldorf School of Baltimore. The project included a total overhaul of the organization’s website (www.waldorfschoolofbaltimore.org) which went live last month, as well as a revamp of other materials including a revised logo, pamphlets for each level of education the school offers (early childhood, elementary and middle school), implementation of color coding to visually identify each of the educational levels and online ads.

Younts Design created a custom website that focused on a user experience that visually complimented the new design direction. Based on in-depth interviews and surveys, the content was tailored by bringing in a writer and photographer who specialize in school marketing. The firm built the website on the open source Drupal platform using custom modules and responsive design methods to ensure future interoperability with the mobile space. Additionally, a robust event and calendar system with iCal subscriptions was built to be managed using granular administrative responsibilities. The new website aims to be an attractive broadcast platform for admissions and info hub for current Waldorf parents and faculty. According to Younts Design Creative Director Ronnie Younts, this approach to design and development bucks the current “cookie-cutter” trend of educational website CMS providers that result in vendor lock with costly and often limiting results.

Younts says his firm made the decision to donate their services to the project because they believe in the mission of the school. “Much like our approach to building the new website, the Waldorf curriculum is customized to address specific needs of students at each stage of development, and the end result is a child who is confident in their individual strengths, and capable of insightful and creative thinking. That’s an approach that resonates with me personally, and I believe will create the kind of leaders our world needs,” Younts says. He and his wife and business partner, Leili, have two boys attending the Waldorf School of Baltimore.

The Waldorf School was delighted with the generous gift from Younts Design, and had this to say about the new site, “Our beautiful website combines elegance and design with substance and depth. It offers us a bright new opportunity to reach out to the wider community by providing a fresh and inspiring window into our school.”

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About Younts Design Inc. (http://yountsdesign.com/)

Younts Design Inc. is a design firm that assists architects, developers, schools, restaurants and other businesses in providing unforgettable user experiences that reinforce their brands across print, online and environmental graphics. The business was founded in 2013 by husband and wife team, Ronnie and Leili Younts. They are located in the historic Meadow Mill business complex, 3600 Clipper Mill Rd. Suite 410, Baltimore, MD 21211.

About The Waldorf School of Baltimore (www.waldorfschoolofbaltimore.org)

Founded in 1971, the Waldorf School of Baltimore is an independent, coeducational day school for students in nursery through 8th grade. One of 2,500 Waldorf schools in over 60 countries, the Baltimore program is based on their mission to educate and inspire children to think, feel, and act with depth, imagination, and purpose. Waldorf Education is based on the insights of philosopher and educator Rudolph Steiner.

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