My role was to take the theoretical design thinking and incomplete brand guidelines and make them real. The best way to achieve that in a brief period of time was to bring strategy, content, copy and design together to create a vision for an overhaul of an established brand collateral, website, events, advertising, environmental, and culture.

A 40 year old company that relied mostly on strong research and data led to a brand perception as the “old, boring, data guys.” All of the collateral needed to be revisited. Not only were we changing the visual look and feel, but a big part of this rebrand was how we talked about ourselves.

One key differentiator that was important for us was to eschew the usage of stock photography. We found a wonderful collaborative partner in David Johnson from Chicago. He immediately understood our need for authentic photography to gain teachers’ respect by capturing actual classrooms with real students.

Another need for the brand was to use illustration to convey a sense of whimsy when trying to explain abstract concepts or with otherwise dry content. London based illustrator Adam Simpson and the delightful worlds he creates with his illustration was exactly what we needed.

Design Direction | Tyson Smith, Ancona and Associates

Design | Tyson Smith, Halle Cisco, Ancona and Associates

Design support | Amy Meyer, Heather Wagner, Dave Moore

Strategy Direction | Kyle Scheaffer, Tyson Smith

Photography | David Johnson

Illustration | Adam Simpson

Copy | Tara Blaine, Erin Ryan