Not your average annual report: Creating a coloring book for JRE’s 25th anniversary!
Client
John Rex Endowment
Services
Strategic planning, core messaging, copywriting, illustration, design
“This project challenged us creatively and strategically, and we couldn’t have achieved it without your thought partnership, care, and follow-through. It reflects much of what we’ve learned together: how to speak honestly about history, honor community wisdom, and invite others into a shared vision — without losing ourselves or our values along the way.”
Ashley Ahlers, Director, Partnership and Communication, John Rex Endowment
The Brief
The Background
How do you celebrate a major milestone like a 25th anniversary, while still centering and celebrating your community? How do you create something that engages your partners, tells your story AND helps further your mission? This was the challenge the John Rex Endowment (JRE) team brought to us.
The Challenge
To mark this special occasion and honor their community, the team wanted a unique and memorable annual report to use during their celebrations and throughout the year.
Our Solution
Together, we came up with a unique idea: an adult coloring book that tells JRE’s story and highlights the amazing people who have been part of JRE’s 25 years of advocacy.
Here’s how we tackled it together.
Started with strategy. We established JRE’s goals for the anniversary celebrations, along with their most important target audiences. We completed best practices research for creating adult coloring books, too! We used all of this to create a smart strategy.
Wrote core messaging. The JRE team could use this messaging for *all* of their communications about the anniversary. This saved the team time and effort AND helped their audiences remember the messaging. The core messaging extends beyond the anniversary year. The team is still using it as a foundation for JRE communications!
Created the coloring book! We:
Delivered three unique storyline ideas and built a full storyboard based on the chosen concept.
Drafted the full text (including an introductory letter, three partner stories and supporting materials) and worked through two rounds of edits.
Worked directly with JRE’s community partners to review and approve the stories.
Delivered a look and feel to set the tone.
Fully designed the book, complete with custom illustrations.
Worked through two rounds of design edits and completed a final full copyedit on the content.
Our Results
We successfully delivered a colorful, fun, creative and heartwarming anniversary coloring book, giving the JRE team a highly memorable piece to share with their community. Not only that, the JRE team had pitch-perfect core messaging to confidently drive their anniversary communications across the year and beyond.