Diversity by Design

Identity for teen program

OPPORTUNITY
Design is a powerful tool for change, and we need more diverse voices in this field. During a team meeting, my colleagues and I were discussing how we would have pursued design careers earlier if we had been encouraged and educated about design as teens. We decided to launch a poster contest to encourage Bay Area high school students to explore graphic design and to celebrate diversity. To promote this new program, we needed branding to reflect our goal and appeal to a teen audience.

SOLUTION
I developed a bold, playful wordmark and visual system to suggest that design can be fun and approachable, and helped to design all print and digital collateral in this identity for this first-ever program. I wrote the copy and designed the exhibits for a webpage meant to inspire teens to explore the fundamentals of graphic design. I also designed graphics for email and social media promotion, award certificates, and artwork for button-making (which I proposed as a free activity at the awards ceremony).

As part of a team, I also helped to assemble free learning resources for students, including webinars with outside partners.

Winning posters on display in the Academy (background illustrations by Alexander Vidal)