Madison
Hooper
Stokes

Gwinnett Building Babies’ Brains.

In 2019, KREP data was released showing that 54% of students entering Kindergarten in Gwinnett County were not ready to access the curriculum. An initiative of advocates, educators, and leaders set out to change that.

The Client

A new community collaborative made up of educators, business leaders and advocates focused on raising awareness and activating their community to aid it’s youngest learners.

The Challenge

Make brain science approachable and actionable without sacrificing credibility (or boring parents to tears).

The Insight

Our initial deep dive into the issue of KREP scores revealed more than just a resource access gap. It revealed that many parents didn’t understand that brain development begins well before Kindergarten.

Our perspective shifted from simply resource accessibility to breaking down complex brain science into understandable, actionable steps for those with the most impact on a child’s early brain development. 

“Learning Begins at Birth” became our messaging red thread and “Parents are a Child’s First and Best Teacher” became the rallying cry that has shaped outreach to parents, caregivers and educators ever since.

My Role

Bring the brand to life and to parents: from the very first naming conversation, to the digital resource hub, to events for parents and educators and through to a rolling preschool classroom. Define and clearly explain the initiative strategy, objectives and tactics to stakeholders. Strategically position the brand as a trustworthy source of brain science and resources. Create brand systems that are replicable and available so volunteers are easily activated and stay in alignment with core brand elements. Generate new tools that enable parents to access the highest quality resources available to them whenever they are needed.

The Work

  • Naming + Brand Positioning
  • Logo Design
  • Brand Strategy + System Development
  • Website Design including custom designed resources surveys for parents
  • Annual Reports, both print and digital
  • Parent Focused Printed Collateral
  • Event Design
  • Subbrand Logo Design
  • Custom Vehicle Wrap for rolling preschool classroom
  • Mascot

The Impact

  • 300k+ Website User Sessions to date
  • The mascot, Brainy, is well loved and well recognized throughout the county. He was even invited to Chopper’s birthday party!
  • Since the launch of this initiative, the number of students not ready for Kindergarten has dropped from 54% to 49%.
  • Gwinnett Building Babies’ Brains has generated almost $1.5M in funding from grants and donations since launching in 2020
  • Over 1000 educators have attended Impact Lab, a professional development conference.

Gwinnett poses the challenge of being so culturally diverse, meaning we had to ensure that communication was balanced and accessible across as many members of the community as possible, by activating volunteers as native speaker translators and ensuring that core brand elements were displayed consistently across languages. No glyphs in different fonts here. The experience is the same, no matter the language. Launching an initiative like this during the pandemic also enabled us to think more abstractly about the outreach problem, and allowed us to center partnership as a means for distribution on a wider scale.

Part 1 - Building the brand

a brand built on a simple truth: Learning Begins at Birth

We started by giving the community collaborative a name and brand identity that was easy to understand and felt approachable, vibrant and childlike, while still protecting the credibility and professionalism that resonates with the donors and community leaders we needed to activate when we launched the program. 

The name highlights the actionable part of the initiative. Brains are built, not just born. The center of the logo icon uses negative space to double as building blocks or open books, calling back to the critical role that play serves in early brain development.

Part 2 - Give it life

The most critical aspect of the brand launch was the website, which serves as a central hub for free resources as well as our primary credibility point for donors. Gwinnett poses the challenge of being so culturally diverse, meaning we had to ensure that communication was balanced and accessible across as many members of the community as possible, by activating volunteers as native speaker translators and ensuring that core brand elements were displayed consistently across languages. No glyphs in different fonts here. The experience is the same, no matter the language. 

The website includes several specific sections, breaking resources into 9 core age groups and each age group into 6 developmental areas. Resources were selected by a Harvard fellow and are maintained by a core team of volunteers. We created a developmental survey for parents to answer simple yes or no questions and the survey then generates a custom developmental checklist of resources based on parental needs. I was awarded a W3 Silver Award · Website Design: Education in 2021.

Part 3 - into the community

Launching an initiative like this during the pandemic also enabled us to think more abstractly about the outreach problem, and allowed us to center partnership as a means for distribution on a wider scale. We activated major organizations in both private and public sectors to distribute materials to parents and caregivers. This included government agencies, schools, pediatricians and HR Departments. We also created a billboard, developed a mascot, produced yard signs, and other printed collateral.

Part 4 - extending the system

Part 5 - gauge the impact

  • Brand Design, Print Design, Website Design