Visual Language LLC

Writing and Design by Ellen M Shapiro

Professional Children’s School

Always Leaping Higher

Near New York’s Lincoln Center, PCS is the school where talented kids who star on Broadway and in dance, film, TV, and sports get a personalized college-prep, academic education.

The logo palette, like the young dancers, is nimble and can change form as needed,
There can be no more effective fund-raisers than the students themselves, who touch donors’ hearts with their talents and smiles. This accordion folder fits neatly into an A-8 envelope with a personal note — and can be proudly displayed on parents and donors’ desks.
The same two days of shooting in the studio that photographer Peggy Barnett and I set up at the school yielded portraits for “The Faces of PCS” annual report.


Another major project was the identity and materials for a capital campaign to raise funds for completely renovating the building, including adding a theater. science lab, and rooftop sports court. The logo was based on architect Steven Harris’s design for the glass-enclosed stairwell on West 60th Street.

We translated the architect’s elevation into campaign mailing piece that unfolded into this poster.
The case statement was designed to be spiral-bound in-house with personalized letters and updated plans as the campaign progressed. Steven Harris’s beautiful rendering of the building’s new facade is on the inside covers.