Building the Visual System for the K–5 Social Studies Curriculum
Role: Art Director
Timeline: Feb 2021 – Oct 2022
Scope: Visual System Design, Art Direction, Team Leadership, Illustration Program, Production Oversight
Timeline: Feb 2021 – Oct 2022
Scope: Visual System Design, Art Direction, Team Leadership, Illustration Program, Production Oversight
Overview
At Amplify, I served as Art Director for the development of the new K–5 Social Studies curriculum, partnering with creative leadership to establish the program's visual identity and design framework.
My role involved building the visual system from the ground up — defining typography, layout structure, and illustration direction — while leading a team of designers and illustrators in developing prototypes for both student and teacher materials.
The goal was to create an engaging and cohesive design language that supported historical storytelling, accessibility, and instructional clarity across grade levels.
The Challenge
Social Studies content spans a wide range of topics — from early civilizations and geography to civic participation and historical narratives.
The curriculum needed a visual system that could:
• Present complex information clearly for young learners
• Support narrative storytelling through imagery
• Maintain consistency across student and teacher materials
• Scale across multiple grade levels and content types
• Integrate illustration, photography, and instructional elements seamlessly
• Support narrative storytelling through imagery
• Maintain consistency across student and teacher materials
• Scale across multiple grade levels and content types
• Integrate illustration, photography, and instructional elements seamlessly
The design framework also needed to function efficiently within the realities of curriculum production workflows.
My Role
As Art Director, I was responsible for shaping both the creative direction and operational execution of the program.
Key responsibilities included:
• Developing the overall visual identity and design system for the curriculum
• Designing early prototypes for teacher and student materials
• Establishing typography, layout grids, and hierarchy standards
• Creating a comprehensive style guide for program consistency
• Hiring and directing illustrators and designers
• Leading art reviews and providing creative feedback
• Overseeing image acquisition and illustration programs
• Coordinating with Production and Content teams to support development timelines
• Designing early prototypes for teacher and student materials
• Establishing typography, layout grids, and hierarchy standards
• Creating a comprehensive style guide for program consistency
• Hiring and directing illustrators and designers
• Leading art reviews and providing creative feedback
• Overseeing image acquisition and illustration programs
• Coordinating with Production and Content teams to support development timelines
Design Approach
Establishing the Visual Language
Working closely with creative leadership, I translated the program’s educational vision into a cohesive visual framework.
This included:
• Selecting typography that balanced readability with visual character
• Defining page structures for different instructional components
• Creating a hierarchy system to support learning flow
• Establishing visual treatments for maps, timelines, and historical content
• Defining page structures for different instructional components
• Creating a hierarchy system to support learning flow
• Establishing visual treatments for maps, timelines, and historical content
The goal was to create a system that could support both narrative storytelling and instructional clarity.
Prototyping the Curriculum Experience
I led the design development of early curriculum prototypes for both student and teacher materials.
These prototypes served to:
• Test layout systems across multiple lesson types
• Explore illustration styles and visual storytelling approaches
• Align design decisions with instructional goals
• Provide a working model for production teams
• Explore illustration styles and visual storytelling approaches
• Align design decisions with instructional goals
• Provide a working model for production teams
This phase helped establish the visual rhythm and structure used throughout the program.
Leading the Creative Team
To bring the program to life, I managed a team of 12+ designers and illustrators, coordinating the development of illustrations and visual assets.
My role included:
• Hiring illustrators and assigning projects
• Providing art direction for illustration style and tone
• Reviewing sketches and final artwork
• Guiding designers through prototype development
• Ensuring consistency across materials and components
• Providing art direction for illustration style and tone
• Reviewing sketches and final artwork
• Guiding designers through prototype development
• Ensuring consistency across materials and components
This collaborative process allowed the program to maintain a unified visual language while supporting a large volume of content.
Building the Style Guide
To support production and long-term consistency, I translated the visual framework into a comprehensive style guide.
The guide documented:
• Typography standards
• Color systems
• Layout structures
• Illustration direction
• Image usage guidelines
• Color systems
• Layout structures
• Illustration direction
• Image usage guidelines
This documentation allowed the curriculum to scale across grades while maintaining a cohesive identity.
Outcome
The Social Studies curriculum launched with a unified visual system that supported storytelling, instructional clarity, and production scalability.
The design framework provided:
• A consistent visual identity across K–5 materials
• Clear layout systems for both teacher and student resources
• Structured guidelines for illustrators and designers
• A scalable foundation for ongoing curriculum development
• Clear layout systems for both teacher and student resources
• Structured guidelines for illustrators and designers
• A scalable foundation for ongoing curriculum development