Defining a non-profit’s new voice: The Environmental Charter School
Can strategic design refresh an innovative charter school’s image?
The Environmental Charter School (ECS) has a highly experienced staff and a strong curriculum. As it neared its 10th anniversary, ECS was a well-established institution. However, it struggled to communicate its environmentally focused educational approach in a way that resonated with the public and was easy to understand. The opportunity here was to create new brand messaging that clarified what the school believed and position it for future growth.
ThoughtForm helped ECS shape its overall brand strategy and communications to bring the school into better alignment with its unique educational philosophy—all while honoring the brand recognition it had already achieved. We developed a new identity, audience-specific messaging, and an editorial guide to help ECS tell its distinctive stories.
Who did we help?
The Environmental Charter School (ECS) is part of Pittsburgh Public Schools and serves students in grades K–8. ECS’s charter application was approved in mid-2008, and it opened its doors in the fall of the same year to grades K–3. The school has grown a grade each year since then, and its application to add a high school was recently approved.
ECS’s place-based approach to education integrates built, social, and environmental systems for contextual learning, giving its students the opportunity to become strong thinkers and problem-solvers in real-world applications.
“Our relationship with ThoughtForm was transformational. The process and products the team developed and executed provided clarity, style, and a commitment to the sanctity of our identity.”
What did we do?
Analyzed current communications and defined new ways to help make ECS “shine.”
Early discussions between ThoughtForm and ECS revealed the school’s struggle to communicate their educational philosophy to new families, colleagues, and partners in a relatable way.
ThoughtForm encouraged ECS to “step back” and take a more holistic view of their messages and communications, launching an investigation of their brand.
ThoughtForm hosted a Vision Catching® session with key ECS stakeholders, laying the groundwork for updating the ECS brand in time for their 10th anniversary. This session provided valuable context about the school’s history and its current culture and academic standing. It also helped us assess opportunities to re-engineer the ECS brand without disrupting the equity it had already built.
Reinvented messaging and graphic identity to bring ECS into harmony with its mission.
ThoughtForm created a foundational set of messages that resonate across ECS’s audiences, as well as customized messages tailored to each audience.
Concurrently, ThoughtForm updated the ECS logo to truly embrace the built, social, and environmental learning systems that together comprise ECS’s unique approach to education.
ThoughtForm established a library of formats and templates for these new messages and identity elements. These new tools make it easy for ECS to ensure consistency across all communication touchpoints, from letters to press releases to the school’s first annual report.
Created targeted resources to serve as a roadmap for content creation in the future.
ThoughtForm and ECS collaborated to visualize where ECS stories originate and how they should be developed and published in the future.
We created a visual model that served as a high-level snapshot of this editorial process. It details the primary actors and actions that successfully push ECS stories through the proper channels and ultimate publication.
An accompanying writer’s manual of detailed editorial guidelines, style rules, and best practices helps further ensure consistency among all ECS communication initiatives.
As a final deliverable, ThoughtForm also developed an annual planning tool that helps ECS anticipate their needs for print and digital communications and have the necessary materials on hand.
What did we create?
Vision Catching® DIG
The Design Innovation Guide (DIG) detailed the discussions, exercises, decisions, and key takeaways from the Vision Catching® session held at the beginning of the project. The DIG served as a reference tool as the project proceeded and helped keep all parties aligned to project objectives.
Branding support tools
ThoughtForm created a visual model of the ECS editorial process (see at bottom) plus an accompanying Communications Writing Manual. For the new identity, we provided a logo art library and formats for communication materials. Together, these tools ensure consistency for all ECS messaging and brand expression.
ECS Annual Report
ThoughtForm created ECS’s first annual report to help provide an overview of the school’s year and highlight the practices and characteristics that define its educational approach and mission. The report leveraged ECS’s new brand and messaging, and ECS distributed approximately 1,000 printed copies to prospective families, colleagues, and partners.
The Results
Through the course of this brand definition and communication process, Thoughtform:
Completed audit of current site’s purpose, users, design, and brand image to identify opportunities for reinvention.
Worked with Pratt & Whitney to streamline the site’s content architecture and navigation, improving the user experience.
Created a more contemporary, design-centric visual style for the site and ensured its scalability across devices.
Provided best practices for content development, photography selection, and site maintenance that aligned with Pratt & Whitney protocols.
Researched and developed special feature sections for site, such as a media center, tailored to the site’s wide-ranging purposes.
Assisted in site launch and ongoing maintenance.