What The Work Taught Me: K12 Coalition
Often, clients come to us with very complex needs.
Not because they lack vision, great clients have awesome vision.
Growth creates complexity.
New brands.
New programs.
New audiences.
All serving one deeply important mission. (hopefully, oh please…)
When we began working with K12 Coalition, they were stewarding a powerful and expanding ecosystem. Under the K12 Coalition umbrella sit established education brands including Teaching Channel, Lavinia Group, iteach, Passage Preparation and Keys to Literacy. K12 Coalition also provides services directly as the parent organization.
Each brand had history.
Each had equity.
Each had strong opinions. (As they should. It’s education.)
And as a new program brand like RedThread was created, and the RISE program was further developed, everything needed to feel distinct while still clearly belonging to the larger system.
As Eddie Renz, Creative Services Director at K12 Coalition, put it:
“These projects needed a clear brand identity that were distinct yet still could exist in the same product family.”
That sentence captures the tension beautifully. Distinct, yet unified. Independent, yet unmistakably connected.
Redesigning with respect.
Let me be clear. Alongside the K12 team, we redesigned everything.
Yes, everything. Gleefully, I might add.
Identity systems. Custom, hand-drawn illustration styles. Typography. Web expression. Guidelines. Structure.
But we didn’t erase what made each brand meaningful. We elevated it.
In education, brand is not decoration. It is trust. It is credibility. It is clarity for people doing incredibly important work.
Teachers are overwhelmed enough. The least we can do is make the materials supporting them feel thoughtful and coherent…not like one more thing they have to decode.
We partnered with K12 Coalition to develop RedThread from the ground up and further develop RISE so both would live in harmony within their respective brand families and the broader K12 Coalition ecosystem.
That meant building:
- Ownable hand-drawn illustration systems
- Typographic structure that carried warmth and authority
- Color systems that differentiated without fragmenting
- Brand standards that made life easier, not more complicated
Brand architecture should not feel like a book of rules you’re terrified to break. It should feel like a solid scaffolding you’re grateful to stand on. Or at the very least, one that doesn’t make your internal team need therapy.
True partnership.
Complex systems require more than good design. They require trust.
Eddie shared something that means a great deal to us:
“Bates Meron become more of a partner and felt almost like our own in-house design team.”
**squeeeeee, thank you, Eddie!**
That is never accidental.
Alignment at this level demands listening. It demands patience. It demands the humility to recognize that our clients are experts in their work and we are there to support and strengthen it.
He also said:
“They are true thought partners. I could not do my job as well without them!”
That makes me swoon! That makes every spreadsheet I’ve ever had to work on worth the effort. That makes our intention a success.
Because the truth is, we feel the same way about clients like K12 Coalition. Their team is deeply committed to educators and students. They are thoughtful, they are strategic and they care about getting it right.
When both sides care that much, the work gets better.
(And yes, sometimes we geek out over color theory together. That’s when you know relationship is more fun than work.)
Beauty with backbone.
And of course, there’s the magic moment.
Eddie described it this way:
“Often times my jaw would hit the floor because of the beautiful work.”
Are you kidding me Eddie? How am I supposed to be stoic when you say stuff like that? 😭🤯
Who doesn’t want a jaw-drop moment?
But beauty without structure doesn’t scale.
The real win here was not just that the work looked strong. It functioned across brands. Across programs. Across teams.
Teaching Channel could remain Teaching Channel. Lavinia Group could remain Lavinia Group. RedThread could launch with confidence. RISE could evolve without losing its equity.
Many voices, one disciplined foundation.
What the work taught me.
This work reinforced something I believe deeply.
Complexity is not the problem, being overwhelmed is. Forest. Trees. You know what I’m saying.
When you steward multiple brands under one umbrella, the goal is not sameness. It is clarity, mutual reinforcement and respect.
K12 Coalition did not need a loud brand. They needed a clear one.
And when clarity is designed well, something shifts internally. Teams move faster. Decisions feel easier. Confidence grows.
That is what alignment at scale looks like. And honestly, it is a privilege to build it alongside people doing work that truly matters. 🌈🦋
“When I think of Amy at BatesMeron, she has to be one of the best people I have ever worked with. She is a very organized project manager who communicates quickly but is also an extremely good listener. BatesMeron became more of a partner and felt almost like our own in-house design team. Working with the entire team is a joy and I actually look forward to our online meetings. They always bring their very best and collaborating with this team is magical. I have learned so much from working with them. They are true thought partners. I could not do my job as well without them!”
Sources
- Public Clutch.co Review by Eddie Renz
https://clutch.co/go-to-review/cbe5a85f-20b8-49e6-90ac-db0525ccb21e/364421 - K12 Coalition Multi-Organizational Branding
https://batesmeron.com/work/k12-coalition-multi-organizational-branding/ - RedThread Comprehensive Messaging & Branding
https://batesmeron.com/work/redthread-comprehensive-messaging-branding-design/ - RISE Summer Learning Program Rebrand
https://batesmeron.com/work/rise-summer-learning-program-rebrand/ - K12 Coalition
https://k12coalition.com/ - Teaching Channel
https://www.teachingchannel.com/ - Lavinia Group
https://laviniagroup.org/ - iteach
https://www.iteach.net/
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1006 S. Michigan Ave. Suite 601
Chicago, IL 60605
