The Rainforest Art Project started in San Diego and Imperial County, providing art programs and public art installations in the year 2000. Since then, this organization worked on hundreds of large-scale projects involving students, schools, and communities. These projects give a sense of pride and accomplishment to all involved, beautifying the areas they live, work, and go to school.
When interviewing for the internship, the name ‘The Rainforest Art Project’ threw me off a little. I immediately thought that this was an art program that saves the rain forest. It is not.
The number one issue was the lack of consistency of logo and branding. As a marketer, I know that consistency across all the company’s mediums is key to building the brand.
The number one issue was the lack of consistency of logo and branding. As a marketer, I know that consistency across all the company’s mediums is key to building the brand.
The company already had a solid reputation for quality mosaic work and excellent customer service, it just needed a new face to attract new customers.
Dan Evers, the owner and director of RAP, a true visionary for this organization. He saw that need to diversify & streamline processes in order to grow on a national scale. Actually his favorite word is “scalable” which I took in account when deciding how to change their sixteen-year-old logo.
Keeping the toucan was an obvious choice. I wanted the logo still be similar enough to the old logo that it was still recognizable to current and past customers, yet refreshed enough to attract new ones. I first chose colors & typography that were playful and would look crisp digitally & printed. The background needed to look more like a mosaic then a rain forest theme to give a clue what this company did.
Keeping the toucan was an obvious choice. I wanted the logo still be similar enough to the old logo that it was still recognizable to current and past customers, yet refreshed enough to attract new ones. I first chose colors & typography that were playful and would look crisp digitally & printed. The background needed to look more like a mosaic then a rain forest theme to give a clue what this company did.
I had a great team of interns from Platt College at the office that helped bounce some ideas around. We went through several variations and after much debate, went with my creation.
The Program
When I first started, I was introduced to the Connections Program which is an program for 1st to 6th grade elementary schools. The program consisted of common core stories & articles produced on video, teacher and student workbooks, and individually packaged art materials correlating with each lesson. The teacher could turn on the video, pass out the workbooks and material. This is a fun, educational program that makes it easier for the teacher and interesting for the students. Since this includes all the materials, it is budget-friendly for the school.
When I first started, I was introduced to the Connections Program which is an program for 1st to 6th grade elementary schools. The program consisted of common core stories & articles produced on video, teacher and student workbooks, and individually packaged art materials correlating with each lesson. The teacher could turn on the video, pass out the workbooks and material. This is a fun, educational program that makes it easier for the teacher and interesting for the students. Since this includes all the materials, it is budget-friendly for the school.
The Issue
The concept is great for the program except for the execution. The videos were low-quality, awful sound, and terrible lighting. The workbooks were riddled with simple spelling and grammar errors! Worst of all, they were completely done in Corel Draw! I said that if this company wanted to use this program, it needed to be completely redone, just use the same stories (just edited and updated) and art projects. That’s when we really started having fun. I had no experience with any of these, I was going through school, but I knew we would figure it out.
The Introduction Video
The concept for the intro video was a bunch of hands working on art, then push the materials together in the center, raise our hands and the logo would appear. We took hundreds of photos of our hands doing this. I passed the images to the video editor who came up with a 20 second clip that is the intro to all videos.
The Videos
The company needed to have a face or faces for this program. Amore was previously doing the videos and she was very entertaining! I wanted a couple more because there were 60 videos for the program.
The company needed to have a face or faces for this program. Amore was previously doing the videos and she was very entertaining! I wanted a couple more because there were 60 videos for the program.
I wanted each person to show their own personality and we landed it with Lauren (a fun, English woman) and Ayo (model and host). Ralph Young, the director made sure that lighting and sound was perfect before it would go to the editor. I set up the videos for the shoots, gathered all digital media for the editor, and worked closely with both the director and editor.
The Workbooks
There are two types of workbooks, teacher & student editions. These books are in a specific format that was loosely arranged by the previous version of the program:
There are five units. Each unit had a lesson consisted of three lesson (one per day).
Lesson 1 - Story or article which correlates with a video, discussion (the talent presents at the end of the story) and a mini art project (simple color).
Lesson 2 - Art Project. Step-by-step video as well as still shots in the teacher edition. The students would be given the art materials prepackaged for that specific project.
Lesson 3 - Extension. There is no video but a closer look into the subject matter ending with a mini art project.
Lesson 1 - Story or article which correlates with a video, discussion (the talent presents at the end of the story) and a mini art project (simple color).
Lesson 2 - Art Project. Step-by-step video as well as still shots in the teacher edition. The students would be given the art materials prepackaged for that specific project.
Lesson 3 - Extension. There is no video but a closer look into the subject matter ending with a mini art project.
The Design
We wanted to keep with the branding colors and typography throughout the book, to keep consistency. I worked closely with three Platt College students to come up the design and layout of the books. The art program director made sure the content was correct. We worked on the workbooks in InDesign using paragraph, object, and character styles throughout these books.
We wanted to keep with the branding colors and typography throughout the book, to keep consistency. I worked closely with three Platt College students to come up the design and layout of the books. The art program director made sure the content was correct. We worked on the workbooks in InDesign using paragraph, object, and character styles throughout these books.
First grade student workbook is 60 pages! It went through many revision series to make this beautiful, educational book.
The Team
These books were a product of an awesome team, Ariel Reyes, Cole Miller, Maria Titova, Jewell Maile, and lastly, myself.
These books were a product of an awesome team, Ariel Reyes, Cole Miller, Maria Titova, Jewell Maile, and lastly, myself.
