Science from Scientists is an educational nonprofit that aims to improve STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) competency in American elementary and middle school students. The nonprofit organization partners with schools in California, Massachusetts, and Minnesota to establish programs designed to spark youth interest and abilities in STEM-related fields.
Science from Scientists uses graphic design to market to potential partner schools and donors through print and digital advertising. As educators, Science from Scientists also needs consistent creative materials to support online learning, especially during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
"One of the biggest benefits was the quality of designs that we got back."
In 2020, Science from Scientists found Design Pickle through a Facebook ad for Random Acts of Design (RAD), a pro bono project from Design Pickle that awarded three free months of the service to one nonprofit organization. After Science from Scientists applied and was selected as the winner, the organization started using its plan immediately.
Science from Scientists was left with a larger, stronger collection of graphic design materials for both marketing and educational purposes.
After the three-month period, Science from Scientists was left with a larger, stronger collection of graphic design materials for both marketing and educational purposes. Given the amount of content Science from Scientists needs to support its mission, this made a real difference for the nonprofit.
Science from Scientists’ creative content manager, Kira Silverman, shares the positive impact that subscription graphic design made for her marketing team.
Silverman notes that Science from Scientists’ overall brand look must maintain a balance between fun and serious. The organization needs to appeal to elementary and middle school learners while retaining a degree of formality and professionalism for materials geared toward potential partners and donors.
“[Design Pickle] was something I just happened to stumble upon that came at a really good time for the organization,” Silverman says. “Up until that point, we didn’t have a huge diversity of print marketing pieces.”
Before signing up for Design Pickle, Science from Scientists had an existing repository of brand elements and graphics. However, the team struggled to determine how those graphics best served the brand and the organization.
With unlimited requests allowing Science from Scientists to receive plenty of design options, Silverman notes that she was able to play around with what the organization wanted its look to be. Apart from saving time, the unique looks from different design requests helped Science from Scientists shape and strengthen its brand.
“Once I realized how the platform worked and how much we could really get out of Design Pickle, [I thought] ‘We’re gonna tap this resource for as much as we can get out of it.’ I took that as an opportunity to build a [design] library for the organization.”
With Design Pickle’s easy-to-use platform, Silverman uses the drag-and-drop queue prioritization feature to adjust which requests she needs to be done first. The speedy turnaround was also a win for Science from Scientists — projects that would take at least two weeks for an in-house designer to finish were finalized within a week using Design Pickle.
“Once I realized how the platform worked and how much we could really get out of Design Pickle, [I thought] ‘We’re gonna tap this resource for as much as we can get out of it.’”
Science from Scientists was particularly happy about the quality and turnaround time for social media designs. Specifically, Design Pickle helped Science from Scientists create thumbnails and profile graphics for its YouTube videos.
“Those came back really fast,” Silverman says. “They were almost always ready to go on the first draft — didn’t really require a whole lot of edits.”
Science from Scientists also used Design Pickle to create virtual classroom backgrounds for instructors to use at the beginning of their presentations. This was key during increased virtual learning. Silverman says that the Science from Scientists instructors had fun customizing these virtual classroom designs with graphics of their favorite objects, such as family photos.
Projects that would take at least two weeks for an in-house designer to finish were finalized within a week using Design Pickle.
“I think it just generally elevated the quality of our brand,” Silverman says.
Find out how subscription creative services can help you cut marketing costs for your nonprofit organization or company by downloading The Revenue Marketing Playbook. Or book a free demo for a custom walk-through of how you can save, scale, and grow by outsourcing your design needs.
With Design Pickle, Science from Scientists’ last-minute design needs were fulfilled with graphics that, according to Silverman, “I’d be able to have quickly … and knew were going to look good.”
“It just gave me a lot of peace of mind.”
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