WaSP InterAct

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Branding | Print Design | Web Design

It’s projects like this that remind me why I love being a designer. I like the challenge of putting together a visual puzzle and creating a cohesive whole out of a tangle of assorted elements. In varying degrees, all design projects present these opportunities. But some projects offer more than just the fun of assembling an aesthetically pleasing design. This project not only gave me a great design puzzel, but it also gave me a mission that I could get behind, not to mention the opportunity to work with a lot of outstanding people.

InterACT is a curriculum framework designed for college level study in web design and development. The curriculum is written by the education luminaries of The Web Standards Project Education Task Force (WaSP Edu TF), a branch of The Web Standards Project (WaSP) devoted to advancing the adoption of W3C Web Standards in the realm of education.

My job was to create a friendly and welcoming brand for the curriculum with the help and creative oversight of my mentor, Leslie Jensen-Inman. The working title of the curriculum was: The Web Standards Project Education Task Force Curriculum Framework or WaSP Edu TF Curriculum Framework for short. This was a bit daunting; I think it took me a week just to remember the order of the title.

For a while I tried to focus on the more accessible ‘task force’ portion of the name, singling this out as a call to action.

This option didn’t suit however because it wasn’t in the least bit friendly or welcoming. Too much “standards or else!” not enough “how may I help you?”

At this point, Jesen-Inman, wisely suggested we try renaming the curriculum. Often the best place to look for design inspiration is a well thought-out mission statement. From there we came up with the tag line: Connecting Education and Industry; and a few dozen brainstorming sessions later we landed on ‘InterACT.’ InterACT is a call to engage and to share, encouraging the growth of a community of people committed to  web education.

Tags: Branding, Print Design, W3C, WaSP Edu TF, WaSP InterAct, Web Design