National Civics Bee Brand
CLIENT: United States Chamber of Commerce Foundation
A “child brand” of parent brand The Civic Trust, the National Civics Bee is a program by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation for middle school students.
As part of their goal to increase civics education in schools, the Chamber Foundation launched a nationwide “civics bee,” just like a spelling bee, but around engagement with community and government. Local chambers of commerce each host their own bee with help and materials from the Chamber Foundation. Students are asked to submit an essay, which is how finalists are determined, and then those finalists attend a community bee to answer questions IRL.
Playful and bright, the brand combines educational and patriotic imagery for a perfect blend of academia and Americana. It was important to me that the brand not lean on stock imagery, since photography from the bees over the next year or so would provide much more diverse photos that truly reflect the communities the bees take place in. But we didn’t have that at the beginning, so I did a lot with illustration and typography.
From the city of Brownsville, Texas to the entire state of Maryland, the National Civics Bee rolled out in five completely different communities to engage our nation’s youth. Since then, the Bee has made its way to 38 states, and counting!
My role:
Concept, creative direction, design, copywriting
Additional credits:
Flier content developed by Games and Learning
Produced while employed by Spence
Children on an awards platform make up an abstract flag. The star and color palette are shared with parent brand The Civic Trust. This logo has the ability to be sub-branded with any local chamber of commerce name in the United States!
The brand concept is a deconstructed flag, with stars on a blue field, plus red and white stripes. The stars and stripes are different on every piece to complement the content.
The brand is designed for middle school students and their families as the primary audience, but it also needed to connect with school administrators, teachers, and local business leaders.
Messaging shifts for different audiences, like an educator-facing Twitter post or a student-facing Instagram or TikTok story.
The white stripes contain a notebook texture, a nod along with the pencils toward the essay portion of the Civics Bee. The color palette is derivative of the main U.S. Chamber of Commerce brand, and makes use of The Civic Trust's colors as well.
In this email newsletter header, the stripes bring to mind streamers at a celebration, another example of just how robust and flexible this brand identity is.
The goal of this flyer is to recruit chambers across the nation to participate in the Civics Bee and bring civics education to schools.
Inaugural National Civics Bee
Images via U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, provided by Brownsville Chamber of Commerce, Kentucky Chamber Foundation, Maryland Chamber of Commerce, Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, Mason City Chamber of Commerce