826 National has a legacy of good design. Each of their 8 chapters has a unique theme and style, and 826 Digital is no different. I created a logo inspired by vintage typewriter keys. This influenced a retro color palette and typefaces, paired with easy to navigate UX elements. The business cards highlight another key feature of the website, a vast collection of creative writing from students all across the nation.
Through our research we learned that teachers often just need the “spark” of an idea to create a lesson plan of their own. We defined sparks as innovative mini-lessons or activities that help teach a specific skill, or inspire a big idea. This will be a new feature for writing teachers, and we think it will have a big impact on the way they teach.
We interviewed over 20 teachers throughout the project to ensure that every feature was resonating with the users. This photo shows a teacher giving us feedback on concept sketches during the first phase of the process. We used several interviews like this to narrow down the essential features.
