Building Ace Academy’s First Unified & Accessible Brand System

Ace Academy had a powerful educational mission but a fragmented visual identity. I led the creation of their first comprehensive brand guidelines, transforming scattered materials into a unified, accessible, and scalable system that earned industry recognition.
This project was led in collaboration with Dynamic Integrated Services, supporting the Bainum Family Foundation
Role
Senior Graphic Designer
Timeline
< 2 months
Scope

  • Brand Guideline

  • Brand Strategy

  • PowerPoint Template

  • WCAG Accessibility Analysis

The Challenge

How do we create a brand system that's both consistent and creative?

Ace Academy's identity was scattered across disconnected presentations, web pages, and ad-hoc collateral. Staff and partners applied logos, colors, and typography inconsistently, creating inefficiencies and limiting their ability to scale communications effectively.

The Solution

A System Built on Data and Empathy

I developed a data-driven brand system based on stakeholder empathy and objective analysis.

Discovering the Voice of the Team

I interviewed key stakeholders to uncover the story behind their visual motifs and mission, then audited their entire ecosystem—presentations, websites, marketing materials—to identify patterns and creative opportunities.

Letting the Data Drive Decisions

To move beyond subjective color conversations, I wrote a Python script that analyzed pixel color usage across their website and 149 presentation slides. The analysis revealed that beige dominated both platforms (35% website, 56% presentations), with burgundy as the strongest secondary color (21% website, 11% presentations).

This data provided objective proof for establishing a warm, professional palette and built stakeholder confidence in the strategic direction.

Building for Accessibility and Scale

Color System: I established primary and secondary palettes based on data analysis, ensuring every color combination passed WCAG AA contrast standards for maximum accessibility.
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Typography & Logo Standards: Clear hierarchies and usage rules eliminated guesswork, including specifications for clear space, minimum sizes, and approved applications.
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Template System: I designed a comprehensive PowerPoint library that reduced presentation creation time, enabling teams to produce on-brand materials independently.

Bringing the Brand to Life

The accessible template system became the cornerstone of implementation, immediately adopted across departments.

The Outcome

The brand system was rapidly approved by both Ace Academy and their parent organization, the Bainum Family Foundation, establishing their first "single source of truth" for visual identity.

Unified Identity: Eliminated visual inconsistency across all touchpoints

Accessibility: WCAG AA compliance across all brand applications

Industry Recognition: 2025 Hermes Creative Awards Honorable Mention