Uncommon Schools | Branding
Uncommon Math:
Summit Tackles Challenges & Ignites Innovation
Mathematics is vital for students' academic and professional success, equipping them with problem-solving and logical thinking skills. Uncommon Schools hosts an annual summit for math educators to address challenges, discuss trends, and explore innovative approaches to improve math learning outcomes.
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Event strategy
Event Mark
Environmental Graphics
Print & digital marketing assets
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Strong recognition and praise from leadership
Amazing Attendee feedback
Uncommon Schools tackles challenges and explores innovative approaches to improve math learning outcomes at its annual summit for math educators.
Summary
Uncommon Schools' Summit for Educators
Strong math skills are fundamental for students' academic and career success. A solid foundation equips them to solve complex problems, think logically, and make sound decisions across various fields. To address challenges and explore innovative approaches, Uncommon Schools annually holds a summit for math educators to discuss current trends and opportunities to improve student learning outcomes.
Research
A Collaborative Journey to Brand & Spark Innovation
This year, Uncommon Schools aims to elevate its annual regional Math summit with a powerful brand identity and engaging collateral that captures the spirit of collaborative learning, where educators share their journeys, brainstorm impactful workshops, and celebrate the power of STEM education. Through our interviews with their team of educators, we embarked on designing an experience and mark that fosters connections, ignites innovative ideas, and showcases the transformative potential of strong math skills.
Strategy
Celebrating the Icons of STEM
To deliver an exciting and engaging experience for our audience, we developed a strategy that showcases Math as fun and badass. In recent years, pop culture has embraced and celebrated "Nerdy" things as fun and famous, and we wanted to join in on this movement. We chose to highlight heroes within the STEM field to expand our awareness that Math is not limited to one field but is relevant in our everyday lives and has shaped our modern world. We collaborated with the Comms team and members of the Math Council to identify and feature icons that span the areas of STEM, highlighting their contributions to shaping our modern world.
Creative
Math Summit Reaches New Heights with Clever Use of "Sum" Symbol
Our discovery deck revealed a clever play on words: using the mathematical "Sum" symbol to represent the "summit" of our Math Summit. This perfectly embodies the event's core purpose – a gathering where educators share ideas, learn from each other, and collectively elevate their practice to benefit students. The "Sum" symbol also beautifully signifies the combined knowledge and experiences everyone brings to the table. Additionally, the mountain peak imagery associated with "summit" reinforces the sense of reaching new heights in math education.
Creative
Creative Materials and Enduring Impact
Leveraging the wordplay in "Summit" (building from the sum), we created collateral materials like binders, screens, T-shirts, and wayfinding signage. This included launching the "Nerdy by Nature" series, born from our discovery session, which celebrates the groundbreaking contributions of people of color and women in shaping the modern world. To ensure consistency across future events promoting the summit, we also developed a comprehensive style guide for the team.
Five thousand attendees from all regions celebrate STEM icons and core values at Uncommon Schools' Math Summit. Clear signage guides them, while branded binders and T-shirts serve as keepsakes. The impressive design leaves a lasting impression on leadership.
Impact
Math Summit praised by attendees and leadership.
As attendees streamed through the doors, they were greeted by the vibrant Math Summit visuals. The "Nerdy by Nature" icons were a big hit, and the keepsakes, especially the T-shirts, were crowd-pleasers. Later, Uncommon School leadership sent an email praising our work. They expressed gratitude for exceeding expectations and creating a fantastic experience to kick off the new school year.