Summit Schools
Challenge
Summit Schools is a network of 11 schools in California and Washington dedicated to preparing a diverse group of students for future success through a personalized learning system.
Summit believes every teacher and student deserves access to the tools that respond to the individual needs and interests of each student.
In 2016 Summit expanded their Personalized Learning System to a digital platform. It allows any school in the United States access to their approach to education.
COLLINS built the new design system that embodies both the Summit mission — and its students.
Solution
We started by immersing ourselves into the unique Summit experience. We interviewed teachers and students to understand what made this program so successful. The dedication to each student as an individual became the inspiration behind our design approach.
The identity for Summit was then crafted by COLLINS, as well as the Summit students and teachers. Using scissors and cut paper, the teams created letterforms and characters that introduced students to design and typography. The result is a custom Summit typeface developed in collaboration with Oh No Foundry in San Francisco.
Our cut paper explorations also resulted in a series of characters that can be used to represent the students and teachers themselves. The Personalized Learning Platform now uses a custom tool that allows everyone to create their own unique avatar.
Result
The result is a flexible and highly personalized design system that captures the energy of the students, and Summit’s dedication to finding the best, most focused solution for every child.
The system is currently being implemented across the Summit digital platforms, as well as at each of its 11 schools along the west coast.
Team
- Erik Berger Vaage
- Ashley Kasten
- David Nguyen
- Anna Sternoff
- Matt Luckhurst
- Students of Summit Schools