Led Design for a Five-Year Engagement: 50+ Research Reports, Toolkits, Presentations, and Motion Series
Role
Senior Designer
My Contribution
Brand Refresh
Design Production
Print Design
Motion Graphics
Agency
Constructive
Context
I served as the lead designer for FrameWorks Institute account over a 5-year contract while at Constructive. I defined the brand evolution across every touchpoint from the creation of their unique collage art style, production of over 50+ data-driven research reports, several explainer videos series, and eventually leading and mentored a team of 4 designers, owning creative direction and QA.
I scaled design operations by instituting weekly team standup, building and maintaining flexible editorial templates, and creating a freelancer onboarding system which streamlined workflows and enabled rapid, high-quality delivery.
The Challenge
When I first started working with FrameWorks Institute, the first thing I noticed was that all of their research reports used the same template in order to save time on production work. Their research wasn’t getting the attention it deserved because all the report covers looked the same. I saw this as an opportunity to propose a more visual approach to their cover. The collage style came from a series of conversations with the FrameWorks team about how their research needed a multi-faceted visual storytelling approach that expanded beyond a single image since effective framing often involves a systematic mindset over an individualistic focus. Social issues should not be depicted as the work of a single person, which is why the college system is successful for taking certain aspects of the topic and juxtaposing them together to tell a more nuanced story.
Before and After. The custom collage imagery acts as a visual throughline, reinforcing brand consistency across a growing library of research. The cover has to signal credibility to professional audiences while still feeling human, urgent, and worth opening.
Outcomes
Editorial Design that make complex ideas tangible. I created over 50+ longform reports for FrameWorks and their partners. The editorial design system is built to make complex research tangible to nonprofit and advocacy audiences. I built out the cohesive visual language for data visualizations, sample communication recommendations, and system change diagrams.
Culture Change Project Branding and Presentation Design. Showcase of the branding and report design I created for FrameWorks Institute's Culture Change Project, an ongoing research initiative tracking how Americans' mindsets shift over time. The core design challenge was creating a sub-brand system that could be its own district identity and push boundaries, while living within the FrameWorks brand. The Culture Change Project shifting brackets logo acts as a unique design motif throughout the reports’ photo illustrations and page layouts to visually reinforce the idea of “framing” in everyday life.
Keynote Presentation Design that transform complex systems into clear, persuasive visual narratives. I designed several keynote presentations for the FrameWorks leadership team to present Frameworks’ research and methodology at Nobel Prize Summit 2023 and The White House Youth Summit 2024.
‘Fast Frames’ Motion Graphics Video Series. Key artwork stills from a motion graphics and video series I designed and animated for the FrameWorks Institute. I collaborated closely with the FrameWorks team to develop storyboards that properly visualized complex communication recommendations covering topics from public health communications to unpacking cultural mindsets.
The challenge was to build a unified motion system flexible enough to include talking-head interviews, animated explainer graphics, and animated typography treatments. I developed a series of custom iconography that gives abstract concepts like individualism and fatalism a recurring visual vocabulary. Across the whole series, the goal was to make dense behavioral science and narrative-change research feel human, watchable, and shareable.
Web Illustration that establish a credible tone from the first scroll. A set of custom issue area illustrations I designed for the FrameWorks Institute website. The challenge was creating over 30+ consistent illustrations that followed the same visual language. Each illustration layers photography with the brand's signature frame and subtle conceptual line-art. The layering of elements gives every illustration a sense of depth and movement.
The goal of Editorial Design was to make longform behavioral information feel approachable and human without losing its rigor.
Reflections
Brand Design should evolve over time. Since the project span five years, there were moments where I got the chance to reflect on where the design system was and how it needed to evolve. One of those pivotal moments was updating the typefaces midway through the contract. We had initially proposed a sans serif that had a bit more funky characteristics that acted as a brand differentiator, but we realized it was the wrong font for a brand that needs a workhorse font that communicates authority and is also extremely legible in long research reports. Changing fonts required a lot of conversations between the project team, but was ultimately the right move to reflect FrameWork’s rigorous expertise.
Collaboration takes time, but it’s worth the hassle. Leaning into visual storytelling meant I had to align more with the team to push ambitious ideas along. Creating custom collages meant having to source more imagery and working closer with the authors to make sure the research was effectively communicated. That sensitivity expanded tenfold when it came to conceptualizing the motion graphics videos. I iterated on several rounds of storyboards before animation even began to align on how we were visualizing complex ideas like individualism and fatalism. At the end of the day, those moments of intense collaboration felt most rewarding because what we built together outshined what any of us could have made alone.
Next Case Study
Led Design for a Five-Year Engagement: 50+ Research Reports, Toolkits, Presentations, and Motion Series
Role
Senior Designer
Agency
Constructive
My Contribution
Brand Refresh
Design Production
Print Design
Motion Graphics
Context
I served as the lead designer for FrameWorks Institute account over a 5-year contract while at Constructive. I defined the brand evolution across every touchpoint from the creation of their unique collage art style, production of over 50+ data-driven research reports, several explainer videos series, and eventually leading and mentored a team of 4 designers, owning creative direction and QA.
I scaled design operations by instituting weekly team standup, building and maintaining flexible editorial templates, and creating a freelancer onboarding system which streamlined workflows and enabled rapid, high-quality delivery.
The Challenge
When I first started working with FrameWorks Institute, the first thing I noticed was that all of their research reports used the same template in order to save time on production work. Their research wasn’t getting the attention it deserved because all the report covers looked the same. I saw this as an opportunity to propose a more visual approach to their cover. The collage style came from a series of conversations with the FrameWorks team about how their research needed a multi-faceted visual storytelling approach that expanded beyond a single image since effective framing often involves a systematic mindset over an individualistic focus. Social issues should not be depicted as the work of a single person, which is why the college system is successful for taking certain aspects of the topic and juxtaposing them together to tell a more nuanced story.
Before and After. The custom collage imagery acts as a visual throughline, reinforcing brand consistency across a growing library of research. The cover has to signal credibility to professional audiences while still feeling human, urgent, and worth opening.
Outcomes
Editorial Design that make complex ideas tangible. I created over 50+ longform reports for FrameWorks and their partners. The editorial design system is built to make complex research tangible to nonprofit and advocacy audiences. I built out the cohesive visual language for data visualizations, sample communication recommendations, and system change diagrams.
Culture Change Project Branding and Presentation Design. Showcase of the branding and report design I created for FrameWorks Institute's Culture Change Project, an ongoing research initiative tracking how Americans' mindsets shift over time. The core design challenge was creating a sub-brand system that could be its own district identity and push boundaries, while living within the FrameWorks brand. The Culture Change Project shifting brackets logo acts as a unique design motif throughout the reports’ photo illustrations and page layouts to visually reinforce the idea of “framing” in everyday life.
Keynote Presentation Design that transform complex systems into clear, persuasive visual narratives. I designed several keynote presentations for the FrameWorks leadership team to present Frameworks’ research and methodology at Nobel Prize Summit 2023 and The White House Youth Summit 2024.
‘Fast Frames’ Motion Graphics Video Series. Key artwork stills from a motion graphics and video series I designed and animated for the FrameWorks Institute. I collaborated closely with the FrameWorks team to develop storyboards that properly visualized complex communication recommendations covering topics from public health communications to unpacking cultural mindsets.
The challenge was to build a unified motion system flexible enough to include talking-head interviews, animated explainer graphics, and animated typography treatments. I developed a series of custom iconography that gives abstract concepts like individualism and fatalism a recurring visual vocabulary. Across the whole series, the goal was to make dense behavioral science and narrative-change research feel human, watchable, and shareable.
Web Illustration that establish a credible tone from the first scroll. A set of custom issue area illustrations I designed for the FrameWorks Institute website. The challenge was creating over 30+ consistent illustrations that followed the same visual language. Each illustration layers photography with the brand's signature frame and subtle conceptual line-art. The layering of elements gives every illustration a sense of depth and movement.
The goal of Editorial Design was to make longform behavioral information feel approachable and human without losing its rigor.
Reflections
Brand Design should evolve over time. Since the project span five years, there were moments where I got the chance to reflect on where the design system was and how it needed to evolve. One of those pivotal moments was updating the typefaces midway through the contract. We had initially proposed a sans serif that had a bit more funky characteristics that acted as a brand differentiator, but we realized it was the wrong font for a brand that needs a workhorse font that communicates authority and is also extremely legible in long research reports. Changing fonts required a lot of conversations between the project team, but was ultimately the right move to reflect FrameWork’s rigorous expertise.
Collaboration takes time, but it’s worth the hassle. Leaning into visual storytelling meant I had to align more with the team to push ambitious ideas along. Creating custom collages meant having to source more imagery and working closer with the authors to make sure the research was effectively communicated. That sensitivity expanded tenfold when it came to conceptualizing the motion graphics videos. I iterated on several rounds of storyboards before animation even began to align on how we were visualizing complex ideas like individualism and fatalism. At the end of the day, those moments of intense collaboration felt most rewarding because what we built together outshined what any of us could have made alone.