Sector
EducationWhat we did
Research & Strategy, Brand Evolution, Narrative Development, Creative Web Design & UI, Web Development, SEO/GEO, CMS Set up and Training
Reimagining the digital experience for one of the world’s leading bilingual schools
Founded in 1935, Lycée Français de New York is situated in the Upper East Side of Manhattan and is one of the world’s most respected bilingual independent schools, serving over 1,200 students from Nursery through Grade 12, and representing more than 60 nationalities.
The school partnered with us to create a new digital experience that reflects the energy, vibrancy and ambition of the Lycée itself — while also improving usability, admissions journeys and content flexibility across the organisation.
The result is a modern, story-led website across 2 languages that balances academic excellence with humanity, helping prospective families and their wider community quickly understand what makes the Lycée unique.
In addition to launching the school site, we also created a new microsite for their Cultural Center, which hosts vibrant events celebrating French and Francophone cultures.
The Web Kitchen has been a superb partner since the beginning. They understood the school immediately – it’s the first external team I’ve worked with who got us so quickly.
The new website truly elevates us and is by far the best window into the school, student life, our community, and what we accomplish for students that we’ve ever had. Everyone we bump into is complementing us on this work.
This is due to their expertise as storytellers and designers, and the professionalism, effectiveness and openness of their partnership.
Elisabeth King, Director of Marketing & Communications
Creating a website as rigorous and joyful as the school itself
The school were seeking a platform that would better communicate their unique French-American identity by showcasing student stories, culture and community life, and would help achieve admissions and marketing objectives through an improved user experience and information discovery.
Our research and strategy led us to lean in to the cross-cultural and global educational experience at the Lycée, so we designed the homepage narrative and design around how the school ‘shapes engaged citizens in the world, of the world, for the world’.
We re-inforced and built credibility in this positioning by creating mini case studies showing their ‘mission in action’ that are strategically placed throughout the site, as well as creating an interactive Web GL globe that showcases stories of student trips and exchanges, university destinations, the community, alumni and their cultural center.
Visually, the site needed to reflect both the prestige of the institution and the warmth of the community. We took the existing brand and visual identity and evolved it into a modern and cosmopolitan design, using gradients and overlapping elements to reflect the intersectional elements of the school and the educational experience.
Motion and transitions were used selectively to create a sense of rhythm and sophistication without overwhelming the content. The homepage in particular was designed to feel cinematic and story-led — introducing visitors to the Lycée through real student experiences, community initiatives and cultural life.
