Oceanside Perspective
As the chief designer at Oceanside Perspective (OP), a non-profit knowledge-sharing organization, I led a diverse international team to develop OP's branding identity, including designing the logo, launching a digital learning platform, and creating social media templates to support its Kickstarter fundraising campaign.
Overview
The Problem
Oceanside Perspective (OP), a non-profit knowledge-sharing organization, lacked a cohesive brand identity and digital presence that effectively communicated its ocean-themed mission, engaged a diverse global audience, and supported its fundraising efforts. The absence of unified visuals and strategy made it difficult for OP to build recognition, inspire intergenerational participation, and attract supporters to its learning initiatives.
The Goal
To develop a cohesive brand identity and digital learning platform for Oceanside Perspective that clearly expresses its mission, fosters meaningful engagement across audiences, and strengthens fundraising efforts through a unified, inspiring, and visually consistent marketing strategy.
85%
user satisfaction rate
$10k
Kickstarter fundraising goal achieved
24%
user growth
The Solution
- –Logo design: a message in a bottle to capture the essence of connecting different generations through a simple yet powerful visual.
- –Extended the oceanic theme throughout the icon set and overall visual design for the platform.
- –Conducted a card-sorting study to uncover users' mental models and set up content strategy for site navigation.
- –Launched an Inspirational Quote feature on OP's website and social media, turning audio into moving text to boost engagement.
Process
End-to-end design from brand identity to platform launch and marketing
Design system and visual identity
- ✓Collaborated closely with OP's founder team to align visual design with the platform's branding image - understanding the founding story and vision.
- ✓Extended the message-in-a-bottle theme into the icon set of key content sections and overall visual design, incorporating elements resonating with the oceanic setting.
- ✓Built a full design system with logo, graphic components, launching video, and brand visual guidelines.
Information architecture and card sorting
- ✓Conducted a card-sorting study with fellow students and followers of OP to uncover users' mental models of the information architecture.
- ✓Identified 4 categories of content: Chat (podcasts), Meet (videos), Write (articles), and Build (workshops). For example, webinars were grouped together by 76% of participants under the Meet section.
- ✓Collaborated with the website designer to set up content strategy and sitemap for site navigation.
Post-launch testing and iteration
- ✓Added a search function after user feedback requesting easier navigation of growing content volumes.
- ✓Integrated a post-sharing function to enhance brand awareness and drive traffic back to the platform.
- ✓Implemented secondary card sorting to divide content into four categories: leadership, innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship.
Marketing campaign
- ✓Introduced the Inspirational Quote feature on OP's website and social media - picking inspiring quotes from guests and turning audio into moving text.
- ✓This component became a key element of OP's marketing strategy, contributing to 24% continuous user growth.
- ✓Collaborated with the marketing team to establish a unified visual branding strategy across all communication channels, contributing to the $10,000 Kickstarter goal within one month of platform launch.
Reflection
My Contribution
- –Design System: logo, graphic, launching video, brand visual guideline.
- –UX/UI Design: prototypes, website UI design.
- –Fundraising/Marketing Champion: graphic/video templates for social media channels.
- –Project Management: guiding a diverse team to launch a digital platform.
Challenges & Takeaways
Onboarding diverse teams
Workshops aligned diverse skill sets and overcame time zone obstacles, while collaborative tools like Miro, Google Slides, and Zoom enabled efficient progress tracking and consistent communication.
User research as a growth lever
Moving forward, integrating more extensive user research will enhance the overall user experience and platform impact beyond what marketing alone can achieve.