Client relationship: 2015–present
Brave Writer’s mission is to empower parents to be writing coaches for their kids. Their curriculum has to be inviting enough that a reluctant writer wants to open the book, and clear enough that a parent with no teaching background can lead a lesson with confidence. I’ve been the designer behind that curriculum for over ten years, starting with two products and growing alongside the company as their catalog expanded to eight.
Where it started
My earliest work with Brave Writer was a full brand identity and layout redesign of their core language arts programs, Arrow (3rd–6th grade) and Boomerang (7th–10th grade). I built the visual system from the ground up: color coding by content type, typography hierarchy for scannability, and consistent iconography so a parent could navigate a lesson without hunting for what comes next. That system became the design language the rest of the product line grew from.
Where it’s grown
Today I design and lay out the full run of Brave Writer’s print curriculum: Arrow, Boomerang, Slingshot, Quill, Dart, Partnership Writing, and Practice Pages, along with longer-form titles including the Growing Brave Writers guide and the Poetry Teatime series. For several of the newer products, the original concept and illustration style were developed in partnership with an outside design firm. My role on those has been executing the layout within that established system and creating many of the persona illustrations that appear throughout the books, working from the visual language the firm set.
What the work involves
- Typesetting and layout for curriculum spanning early elementary through high school reading levels
- Maintaining visual and structural consistency across seven distinct products under one brand
- Illustration work, including recurring characters and personas used across multiple titles
- Print & digital production, working within page-count and bindery constraints for a physical, mailed product as well as printer friendly layouts that parents can easily print at home
- Long-term brand stewardship: keeping a growing catalog visually cohesive as new products are added
Brave Writer has been one of my longest continuous client relationships. Watching a two-product line grow into seven while keeping a single, recognizable design identity has been one of the more satisfying parts of running my own studio.
