The Challenge

The annual CSDC (Charter Schools Development Center) Conference brings together Charter leaders from across the state for three days of workshops, knowledge-sharing, and networking tailored for California Charter Schools. For 2024, CSDC turned to Five Acres for an event logo and identity system that brought the same boldness, energy, and positivity as the conference.

Our Solution

Five Acres worked hand-in-hand with the CSDC team to create a conference identity system, brand guide, and series of applications from scratch that captured the spirit of the conference. The entire system, from typography to graphics, was designed to be scalable across media, while giving a nod to this year’s location in Sacramento with a library of custom icons.

Building a scalable identity system

The conference identity system was designed with clarity and flexibility in mind, with typefaces and colors chosen specifically to work well for both print and web and a grid system for fast, easy-to-build layouts.

CSDC needed an event brand that was scalable across print and digital media, clear and highly legible for event attendees in a huge physical space, and simple to use when working with different vendors. The primary typeface was chosen specifically because of its excellent legibility, and the vibrant, bright-but-still-professional color palette was inspired by the colors of Northern California. To ensure the identity is applied correctly across any future applications, a brand style guide provides detailed specs, tips on correct usage, and how-tos for working with grid layouts.

Illustrations to foster a sense of place

Each of the identity system’s graphics takes an iconic Northern California place or feature and abstracts it, providing a sleek visual tie-in to this year’s conference location in Sacramento.

Since the conference location alternates each year, we wanted to bring a sense of what makes Sacramento unique into the 2024 conference identity. To do so, we crafted a custom illustration library of classic Northern California features, like Sacramento’s Tower Bridge, Tahoe National Forest, and the Kings crown. The graphics are all designed to fit neatly into a 2x2 grid, making them easy to build compositions with and flexible across a variety of grid sizes and applications.

A delightful, cohesive brand experience across digital and physical media

Crafting an experience that was cohesive inside and outside of the venue was key, as was creating a space that felt welcoming, engaging, and delightful—all while still being professional, of course.

The 2024 CSDC Conference is, first and foremost, an event for charter school professionals, so we were very intentional with bringing in moments of play. The 2024 website leads with the value the conference provides to attendees and showcases the digital side of the identity system. For those who will be attending in November, small delightful accents like conference badges, totes, and stickers double as something memorable to take home.

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