CDS Identity
A new branding system for Children’s Day School’s new community outreach program, aiming to give it recognizability and liven up the visual identity, with TBD*, a student-run design studio at California College of the Arts.
The Design Brief
Many clients come in need of a makeover or a project that builds on existing design, and Children’s Day School (CDS), a K–8 public school in San Francisco’s Mission District, was no different.
They were planning a new community outreach program and wanted a design for it, a “sub-brand” to its current brand, that spoke to what CDS was really about—its inclusiveness and social consciousness, its unique blend of STEM and arts, and above all, its community.
They needed a bevy of design materials, ranging from physical banners to internal presentation slide deck templates to Instagram templates.
Initial Research
At TBD*, students are paired into teams of two. My team interviewed the folks at CDS, visited the site, and conducted competitor research so that this program’s new identity would stand out.
CDS’s pre-existing branding was mostly in cool blue-green tones, which did suit its environmentally-conscious programming, but we felt that its visual identity could use more exuberant shape language and colors to communicate the atmosphere of creativity and fun that we saw while onsite.
Taking inspiration from the CDS logo (which resembles a dandelion), neighborhood flora and CDS’s very own garden, as well as local colors, we drew up concepts based on organic, floral motifs.
I felt that nature represented CDS quite well—the bursting of colors, the growth, the social consciousness.
Deliverables
Event banner designs
Merchandise assets
Branded flyer templates
Style guide
Instagram templates
Email signature redesign
Newsletter reference
Affinity Groups logo set
Presentation template
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Indesign
Procreate
Flying Solo...?
This project was not without its difficulties. While the design work was incredibly fun and fulfilling, halfway through the project, my partner dropped out halfway through, placing a huge workload on my shoulders at a critical juncture.
It was both an emotional and mental struggle for me because this was my first time working on a team like this, but I began to seek advice and help from my supervisor as well as taking more of a project management role in order to meet the client’s expectations over the course of the project.
In the end, I did some of the best work I’ve ever done on the largest project I’ve ever done, flying solo on a team that should have had two designers, and I learned immensely from the experience.