Lead Design Intern
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Summer 2021
Description
The Best Earth Ever (BEE) Project offers educational programs for green industry careers. In Summer 2021, they hired interns to help schools reduce energy, including the San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD), with the goal of decreasing energy and water usage by at least 3-5%.
My Role
Project Manager
Tools
Figma, Squarespace, Illustrator, Photoshop, Google Workspace
Collaborators
Kahlil Davis, Isaias Lozano, Jozlynn "JZ" Garcia
The Problem
SAISD has already implemented an Energy Master Plan to reduce energy usage by switching to energy-efficient equipment. However, they have not yet figured out how to engage the community, specifically students, in actively reducing energy.
The Solution
We created the SEE (Student Energy Engagement) Initiative, including a poster and website, to help SAISD engage students in reducing energy and achieve cost savings. The Initiative aimed to make it easy for students to adopt energy-saving habits and make a positive impact on the environment and the district's bottom line.
The Process
Research & idea generation
Design & development
Implementation
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The expected impact for SAISD is at least 3-5% through implementation using print, websites, and content. This is anticipated to result in cost savings of nearly $400,000-$700,000 for the district by the end of 2022.
We identified the potential for creating habitats for students to reduce energy in schools and making it easier to minimize power in classrooms through Student Programs with designated Student Liaisons as advocates. However, we determined that the Initiative needed to be self-contained due to limitations on the Energy Department's resources.
We discovered that it takes small actions done repeatedly to form a habit that can reduce energy, and identified the end of the school day as an opportunity to make a habit of energy conservation. This led to the development of the "5 Minute Shutdown," a list of actionable steps for students, classrooms, and teachers to follow at the end of the day to reduce energy.
As a team of four, we divided our responsibilities according to our areas of expertise. Kahlil Davis focused on web design, Isaias Lozano worked on video content and developing a brand system for the BEE Project, and Jozlynn "JZ" Garcia designed the poster. I was responsible for leading the team, meeting with team members to ensure the quality, goals, cohesion, and deadlines were met, and providing assistance as needed.
The goal of the "5 Minute Shutdown" poster was to provide actionable steps for students to reduce energy and encourage the formation of an energy conservation habit.
JZ began designing the poster using Google Draw, but after a meeting with the CEO and COO, we determined that we wanted to make the poster more approachable and engaging.
I introduced JZ to Figma, a user-focused, collaborative, and prototyping software, to help brainstorm and create designs that better met these goals.
In parallel, Isaias and I developed a brand architecture for the BEE Project that aligned with their existing brand. We determined that creating a sub-brand for the Initiative would be the most effective approach and named it the "Student Energy Engagement" (SEE) Initiative.
To ensure the SEE Initiative logo fit within the visual design of the BEE Project brand, we used the same "Foco" and "Futura PT Condensed" fonts and designed the logo as an acronym. I worked with Isaias on the typography and later collaborated with JZ on character designs to incorporate into the sub-brand wordmark.
The BEE Project had referred to their internship program as the "Be Energy Efficient Project Internship Program" or "BEE Project Internship," with "BEE" capitalized in all written materials. However, their logo was not capitalized, so we made the decision to ensure all sub-branding was capitalized. Additionally, we created an alternate version of the BEE Project logo in case they chose to capitalize it in the future.
The SEE Initiative required a website to provide students with information about the program and allow them to access resources such as the 5 Minute Shutdown poster. Our team used Squarespace to develop the website, utilizing custom code to update the fonts and create a more cohesive user experience. Kahlil Davis designed the landing page and our team used Figma to plan the website's content hierarchy and user interface.
The website provided students with the ability to download the poster, learn about the steps involved in the 5 Minute Shutdown, watch the informational video, and understand the impact of energy conservation on the environment. All necessary information was included on the website to ensure that students had access to the resources they needed to participate in the SEE Initiative.
The informational video for the SEE Initiative was created to provide students with a visual understanding of the impact of the program. Our team gathered data on the specific energy savings that would be achieved by SAISD schools through the implementation of the Initiative. Kahlil Davis and I used Adobe Premiere Pro to edit the video, while Isaias sourced the necessary footage and developed a script for the video's content. JZ provided the voiceover for the video, bringing the information to life for viewers. The video was an integral part of the SEE Initiative, helping students to understand the importance of the program and their role in reducing energy consumption in their schools.
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After completing the SEE Initiative, our team presented our findings and deliverables to both SAISD. The presentation was opened by San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who praised the team for their efforts. Each team member presented their individual contributions to the project and the process behind them. The presentation was an opportunity to showcase the hard work and dedication put into the Initiative, as well as the potential benefits it could bring to the school districts.
