Case Study: Melksham Oak Avatars
Avatars of staff have brought to life several of the school sites we've done. They're easy to manage, update and animate - and are a hit with pupils!
Getting a really good set of photos of a school's staff is no mean feat and often an unexpected challenge for a school. The presence of images makes good marketing sense - prospective parents will want to check out their child's teacher if they can, and the pictures on the board in the foyer or on the school site are often a crucial first impression. But consistency is hard to keep when new staff arrive - and it's a safe bet that someone is always going to have a bad hair day.
Paperhorse overcomes this by using avatars on several sites, and our creative approach attracted Melksham Oak Community School, who wanted to give their new website a lift, too.
'We'd been really impressed at how simple but accurate Paperhorse had made avatars for other schools,' said Assistant Headteacher, Owen Vince, 'and we wanted the same quality for our staff pages. It's a light-hearted but professional way forward, and gives a nice human touch to the site. Our secondary pupils have responded really well to it and it helps to make all our teachers that little bit more approachable.'
With over a hundred staff at Melksham Oak, the teachers are arranged by faculty, and avatars mean that, as new appointments are made or positions change, it is very simple to add and re-deploy staff.
Other schools have added individual details to the avatars, such as a particular item of clothing that identified with a particular person, and also used avatars as signs on classroom doors. Backgrounds or props are easy to add or alter - and there's never a hair out of place!
