Picture taken from the NHAOPA website (2024)

About the Organization

The New Haven Academy of Performing Arts (NHAOPA) is a performing arts company that offers lessons to children and adults of all background, experience, and skill level in voice, music, acting, and dance. This company is run by vocal coaches Billy DeCrosta (Master Vocal Coach) and Neil Fuentes (Senior NHAOPA) who had the desire to provide quality art education to young people and fuel a love and passion for art and expression.

The NHAOPA also has a variety of directors and coaches who specialize in certain areas but are all trained in Billy DeCrosta’s technique.

Picture taken from the NHAOPA website (2024)

Audience Needs

The NHAOPA’s audience falls into three general categories:

• Parents with children ages 4-17
• Adults with theater/performance backgrounds
• Adults interested in performance/acting/singing

This audience needs the following:



1. Functionality. An organized navigation pane with efficient category names is key to eliminate confusion and allow visitors to access information quickly
2. Playfulness. While the NHAOPA offers adult classes, their main focus is teaching and educating young people. Their website and branding should incorporate a playful design.
3. Information. A place that offers lessons and classes of all kinds needs to pay careful attention to how it organizes information so that site visitors know what to expect when they sign up.

Screenshot taken from the NHAOPA website (as of April 2026)

Current Branding

NAME AND SLOGAN: The academy name is wordy and has a long acronym. The current slogan “Lessons that make YOU feel like a STAR” uses words like '"SPOTLIGHT" and "STAR" to communicate the performing arts nature of the brand.

LOGO:  The current logo is red, gray, and white. The use of the treble clef is generic and categories the brand as musical in nature, but without the name of the company, is not unique.

COLOR PALETTE: There are currently 6 colors that are used on the site in varying ways, from headings to section backgrounds. Right now, there is no consistently with the use of these colors and some pages have readability issues.

Mock website redesign taken from report (linked below)

Re-Branding

NAME AND SLOGAN: The new name "Academy on Main" is short and memorable. It connects more obviously to the name of the theater and also uses the academy's location to reflects community ties and local reputation.

LOGO: The star in the A is a visually way to incorporate the performing arts feel of the old slogan and is an element that can be carried over to the Cabaret logo for consistency. The Cabaret logo is also simplified and uses the colors found in the Academy logo.

COLOR PALETTE: The new color palette is simplified, pulling from the existing colors on the website. Additionally, the website offers many kind of lessons and there is a lot of information for visitors to sift through. Adding colors for each category will help make information more recognizable and easy to find on the site. It will also add variety to the new, simplified color palette.

Brand Identity System

The following attributes were created to provide a variety of ways for the new Academy on Main to advertise their new branding:

• Business Cards
• Mood Boards
• Website Re-Design
• Brochure
• Newsletter
• Merchandise