TRAILS

Creative Problem:

TRAILS — a nonprofit delivering evidence-based mental health programs to schools — needed a refreshed brand to match their expanding national footprint, but lacked a unified language to communicate authentically across three distinct audiences: the teachers, counselors, and school staff who implement their programs; the funders, policymakers, and public health officials who sustain them; and the youth and families at the heart of their work. Each audience needed something different from the brand, and without that clarity, TRAILS was starting from scratch every time they told their story.

Creative Solution:

I led a series of brand discovery workshops with TRAILS leadership and staff — designing exercises in audience perception, empathy mapping, tone of voice, brand archetypes, and values definition. Centering youth experience as the motivating lens, the sessions surfaced core brand themes and produced audience-specific insight maps, a draft brand narrative framework, and tonal guardrails — evolving what began as a web redesign into a full strategic and creative partnership delivering a refreshed brand identity, brand voice, original narrative, and a new youth-centric photo library.

Role: As Creative Director of Brand & Strategy at Wide Eye, I designed and facilitated the workshop series, synthesized staff and stakeholder input, and shaped the strategic creative foundation for TRAILS' evolving brand identity.

Design / Strategy Project Team:

Creative Direction, Brand Strategy, Copywriting: Elizabeth Bawol
Art Direction: Grace Abe
Design/Animation: Hyewon Lee
Digital Content Strategy: Lela Feldmeier

Photography by Rebecca Drois & Casting by Nancy Swenton

Produced: Brand System Design, Brand Narrative, Brand Tone of Voice, Content Strategy, Web Design, Brand Book, Collateral, Photo Shoot Casting and Creative Direction