826 Chi’s End-of-Year Funding Appeal
Social Media & Letter Campaign to support 826 Chi’s Writing Programs
This past November (2019), I was tapped by 826 Chi to develop a series of cheerful, color-block letters and social media for their end-of-year fundraising appeal. Many of their programs use the city as fodder or as prompt for students’ writing exercises. So, I paired that with my love of sketching our urban realm and developed these campaign graphics.
Primary & Playful Graphics
While the series features winter Chicago scenery – a typical alley with snowball fights, chilly biking and ice-skating in Columbus Park – I developed a bright, cheerful, primary palette to tap into a the playfulness of childhood. It also fights off the all-too-present sense of gloom that descends with short days and long winter nights.
The direct pairing of yellow and blue – in donation appeals and letter backgrounds – also tapped into the idea of a season of lights, be it Christmas, Hanukkah, or Nordic festivities like St. Lucia Day that center on candles, community, and illumination.
The full series of edits and development was fairly quick and 826 Chi was very timeline with feedback. For anyone who want to support educational outreach, writing, and students’ voices, I’d definitely recommend volunteering your sketching skills!
Multiple frames & formats
As shown below, the full series of outreach elements included:
- two, full-bleed letters which were sent to volunteers and donors in succession
- a basic envelope design for the letters
- a donation envelope with interior form and greeting
- a series of facebook images – sized for mobile and desktop use – as posts and featured header
- a series of instagram images for use as feed posts.
Team
Meg Studer developed the illustrations and graphic layouts. Gaby FeBland, 826 Chi’s Communications Coordinator, directed the process and provided feedback. Internal copy, for the letter bodies, was developed by 826 Chi’s Executive Director, Kendra Curry-Khanna.
