Think Small
The Challenge
Think Small has been Minnesota’s leading early childhood advocate, but providing articulate, consolidated information on their educational products, resource services and financial support to their wide range of audiences created significant fragmentation within the organization. Unmanaged innovation projects, inconsistent messaging, and little internal process made it really difficult for those who were seeking support and information. Meanwhile other national organizations began to take shape in Minnesota as Think Small’s reach began to shrink.
The Scope
Think Small is Minnesota’s leading nonprofit organization dedicated to providing early childhood education to children 0-5 and supporting those who help along the way. This included not only educational services, financial support but also a traditional publishing division, Red Leaf Press. Think Small was looking to expand their reach which meant they needed to create cohesive messaging and narrative around all facets and divisions of the organization – from serving and educating providers to connecting parents with resources and informing public policy and advocacy. Their long-term goal is to be the country’s number one resource for early childhood education.
Role: Creative Direction,
Designed while at Agency squid
The Solution
The goal was to create a single, consistent brand that captured the complexity of the nonprofit. Messaging consolidation and standardization led to a refreshed brand identity including company vision, and outlined the target audience bases succinctly. From that, the full rebrand and campaign launch was created and produced to prove that Think Small hadn’t lost its ground in Minnesota and was ready for the national stage.
The Audience
Prior to our work, Think Small hadn’t completed formal research on who they were reaching. While first party data existed in regard to their providers, that information wasn’t structured in a way to evaluate messaging needs. We were forced to use 3rd party data and additional research support to determine who our audience was, what they were looking for, and how Think Small could support them. This led to 3 distinct audiences with different needs, and within those 3 audiences, we drilled down further to parse segmentation into socioeconomic status, location, access to education, etc.
The Brand
Strategy
Building Think Small's brand was a meticulous process guided by a clear vision and a profound commitment to early childhood education. The research done prior enabled us to grasp the unique challenges and opportunities within the field. Collaborative brainstorming sessions and feedback loops also fostered creative ideas that aligned with the organization's mission of kindergarten readiness.
Identity
Think Small’s visual identity was designed thoughtfully to reflect the vibrancy of early childhood while still maintaining professionalism that was integral in reinforcing the perception of Think Small as a reliable, credible, and trustworthy entity.
A responsive website was built to support the three key audiences and make it as easy as possible for them, regardless of native language, to find the resources they needed. The site aggregated 2 different websites, multiple blogs, resources, and 3rd party systems all under one roof, and linked directly to Think Small’s learning management system to push online course taking.
Credits:
Account Director: Brent Marmo
Strategic Planning Director: Miles Marmo
Creative Director: Tanya Jacobson
Designer and Illustrator: Nouchi Yang
Designer and Illustrator: Petra Lee