Rebranding the Nation’s #1 Charter School System to Look the Part.
When we first connected with YES Prep, they had just appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show after receiving the Broad Prize—an honor awarded to the top charter school system in the country. They were preparing to expand across Houston, but their brand didn’t reflect their success; visually, they looked more like a small neighborhood school than a nationally recognized institution (see the “Before” at the end of this case study). What they needed was a complete brand overhaul. What we set out to uncover was the essence of who they are—what drives them, what sets them apart, and why they’re the best at what they do.
Work included:
• Research & Discovery
• Strategy, Brand Thematic & Messaging
• Board Strategy Meetings
• Logo / Identity Design
• Stationery Design – Corporate & Campuses
• Mascot Redesign – Campuses
• Photo & Video Planning, Shooting & Production
• Website Design / Development
• Campaign Design & Visual Identity
• Exterior Signage / Building Paint Schemes
• Environmental Graphics / Interior Branding
• Campaign Branded Swag
Website Reimagined
The culture at YES Prep is electric—full of color, heart, and purpose—so we designed a website that dropped visitors straight into that energy from the first click. We produced a custom fullscreen video specifically for web, set to play on load, with user controls for pause, mute, and playback. Once paused, three key content boxes appeared, offering intuitive jump-in points.
Most page templates featured fullscreen background imagery to further immerse users in YES Prep’s vibrant world. Our goal was to engage both hearts and minds—so we blended video, photography, and infographics throughout the experience to balance emotional resonance with clear, accessible information.
The homepage video is featured below—take a moment to step inside the world of YES Prep.
School Mascots, Campus Signage & Brand Applications
Each YES Prep campus has its own distinct identity—including a dedicated mascot. We designed mascots for newly opened campuses and redesigned old ones to be more modern, versatile, and application-ready. The designs extended beyond logos into full campus branding: monument and building signage, interior environmental graphics, and a wide range of branded swag and student gear. We collaborated closely with contractors, sign manufacturers, apparel embroiders and more to ensure the mascot designs translated seamlessly from concept to finished product.
YES Prep Annual Reports
We worked on two years of annual reports—each with limited budgets, but we were able to get creative and still offer some nice touches and techniques to help them stand out. Year one took a slight play on our tagline ‘Redefine Possible’ for the cover title – “Redefin(ed)”, since YES was literally redefining education. Existing client photography was utilized in year one, with year two incorporating our portrait photography of staff & students, and Senior Signing Day photos of the big end of year event at the Toyota Center.
YES Prep Capital Campaign
The YES Prep Capital Campaign was a major success. We helped them secure over $35MM in year one, giving them the ability to scale their proven model and build new campuses in Houston’s underprivileged neighborhoods, offering high-quality education to many on the waiting list, which at the time was 4,781 students.
Mark DiBella, CEO, YES Prep
“I just went through the entire website, watched all the videos and looked at all the photos, and just marveled at the entire piece of graphic design and technical genius that is our new site. You somehow managed to capture the rich, powerful culture of YES in a website that is simultaneously cutting edge and professional.”