SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry working together to ensure that the next-generation workforce is equipped with the skills needed to compete in a global economy. SkillsUSA serves more than 360,000 students and instructors annually. This includes 20,365 instructors who join as professional members. Including alumni, SkillsUSA membership totals over 400,000. Their efforts have served more than 13.5 million annual members cumulatively since 1965.

Annual Membership Kits are pivotal in establishing an immediate sense of the company’s contemporary message and long-standing brand heritage. Design for a Small Planet has defined a visually thematic kit for many years. These integrated sets each included a Membership Guide booklet, online registration instructions, posters for classroom display, and other promotional material. One recent design approach explored bold typography, participants silhouetted around letterforms, and a clean mosaic comprised of compelling imagery, muted shapes, generous white space, and dynamic, sliced corner treatments. The personification of the “Career-Ready Starts Here” messaging required orchestrating photo shoots in both Atlanta and Orlando. We brought in the services of gifted photographer Beth Kennedy, who generated a prized collection of student imagery to present the year’s messaging. We combined these with stunning in-house candids of nationwide events provided from SkillsUSA’s national offices in Virginia. Collaborating designers included Meradith Kill and Wayne Duffy.

2018, 2019 ADDYs Finalist — Sales Promotion Campaign