The brand creative team was given the creative exercise of developing a human-centered campaign with no parameters, constraints, or visual standards to follow. The guidelines we t given were to bolster our newly updated brand voice and tone, appeal to the three main personas our researchers had developed, and shift our brand focus from product to people. Framing the work in this way was exciting and energizing. I was able to break free from the angular box of our tech-heavy brand, which relied heavily on sharp corners, monotypes, and a cold palette. I introduced a soft, warm color bar, rounded edges that played with the angles of our existing logo, and dynamic portraiture that was narrative-driven and emotive.

My explorations were playful and vibrant, but incomplete. Refinements brought in differentiated emotions, more connected copy, and a wholistic composition that made edX feel like a premium lifestyle brand, not just an edTech company.

This final concept is momentum-driven. The learners depicted here are confident, energized, and dynamic. Images on floods of color are aspirational moments of joy — the emotion personified. In-context images capture learners where they are, in small windows of time, showing the elation, relief, and excitement of propelling their career forward.
The lively images are counterbalanced by decisive copy lines. When “ambition looks like” is treated as a subhead typographically, the concrete action is given more room to spark emotion, as in this first example. The rounded typeface works with, and against, the tilted typesetting, creating motion and a light sense of urgency. When “ambition looks like” is set in the large font, IT feels like the spark that will ignite a learner’s passion. Now, the concrete action: “signing the offer letter” is set in the more formal all-caps variation, and suddenly the learner feels like there is an action item before them. This is something they can attain… with edX.

Each frame is grounded with the CTA: “Fuel your ambition with edX,” driving home the concept of edX as a partner.

Though our team was told to create a no-holds-barred campaign, there were, of course, holds that were barred. Since this campaign was not part of a rebrand, there would be a disjointed user experience if customers saw a “Fuel Your Ambition (FYA)” advertisement, and perused courses on a dated platform. We needed to bridge that gap. We were able to update voice and tone, and infuse most of the brand with our updated DNA. Where we could, and working within technical limitations, we swapped in portraiture and body language that reflected the campaign tone.

In order for the other 50+ creatives to roll out the campaign cohesively, we created a tight, robust campaign toolkit. This included typography, colors application, learner journeys, and detailed photography selection tools. I also provided art direction for live-action CTV spots produced by various vendors.

Many assets that made it to market were geared toward learners farther down the marketing funnel than the original concept look and feel. These advertisements were more focused on promotion than awareness. Understanding this distinction helped us to formulate concise direction in building out the brand guidelines based on this campaign.