PROJECT TIMELINE
April 2025 - June 2025
MY ROLE
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Wireframing
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Prototyping
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Visual Design
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Usability Testing
Open Books - Rebrand Case Study
A rebranding of an iconic Chicago nonprofit organization
TOOLS
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Figma
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Adobe Photoshop
1. Project Overview
i. Introduction
What is Open Books?
Open books is a Chicago-based literacy nonprofit organization founded in 2006 that aims to transform lives through reading, writing, and the power books. It is one of the largest used book resellers in Chicago, which has four locations around the city. Their programs were created to push beyond barriers in order to provide invaluable learning material for individuals of all ages.
What are the achievements of Open Books?
Since their debut in 2006, Open Books has given away over 1.37 million books to children, educators, and partner organizations.
In recent years, the nonprofit has been serving roughly 5,000 K-12 students annually through both in-school and after-school programs
Open Books’ instructional programs (one-on-one Reading Buddies, early childhood
Storytimes, etc.) have served nearly 47,000 students.
Why Open Books?
Open Books is a perfect example of an organization with a strong mission statement. It is a book store that doubles as an organization to improve literacy in the local area was a perfect fit for our efforts. Moreover, the team knew its brand identity and website layout could benefit from a complete reformation of the visual elements and other aspects.
ii. Brand Analysis
To gain a deeper understanding of the content and visuals being reformed, the team has analyzed how the Open Books appeals to learners through its website and social account.
Research insights gained from brand analysis...
What are the strengths and weaknesses of each component revolving around the Open Books brand and what can be improved for a more high-quality user experience?
Strengths
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Strong community presence
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Beloved physical spaces
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Fun and quirky tone
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Powerful mission statement
Weaknesses
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Inconsistent digital branding across platforms
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Poorly structured, non-thematic social media assets
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Underutilized impact narratives
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Poorly designed website
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Lack of TikTok/Social Media Marketing
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Low visibility among younger, digitally native audiences
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Untapped potential for corporate partnerships and structured community co-creation.
Opportunities
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Environmental Appeal
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Brand Loyalty
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Authenticity & Transparency
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Flexible Engagement Opportunities
iii. Opportunities for Growth
Enhance online storytelling: blogs, video testimonials, and outcome-driven narratives.
Establish clear and unified brand aesthetics
and messaging.
​​Implement strategic digital marketing via TikTok and influencer partnerships.
​​​Leverage emotional storytelling frameworks (Miller’s StoryBrand, Scott’s Fierce Conversations).
​​​​Launch interactive campaigns on platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Youtube, etc... for engagement.
​​​Build literacy sponsorship packages for small businesses (e.g. “Sponsor a Shelf").
​​​Establish an “Open Books Alumni Circle” to keep in touch with former program volunteers.
​​​Launch seasonal mini-campaigns like “12 Days
of Book Giving” or “Write Your Chicago.”
​​​​Create compelling infographics showing books donated, programs launched, and volunteer hours.
​​​​ Launch initiatives like “Story of the Month,” written by a student, parent, or authors from a community.
2. Reimagining of Open Books
i. Logo Redesign
The team found that the logo for Open Books was extremely effective at portraying their brand identity. The hand drawn logo conveyed the fun and hope that comes from learning how to read. Our group wanted to significantly alter the logo; however, we aimed to introduce a vibrant yellow to highlight its playful elements and align it with the rest of the branding.
Original design
New design
ii. Design System
New fonts!
Our team did not feel that their selection of fonts was particularly strong or in line with the character of the brand. The serif headings are a strong indicator of a literacy-related brand and Lora Bold was a great fit for headings and large call outs.
New color palette!
The colors from their logo are strong, but the team did not see evidence of their use across the rest of the brand. A consistent color palette with additional accent colors had been added to enhance the user experience across all forms of written and verbal communication on the website layouts.
Wireframe layouts!
A complete overhaul of the web design had been implemented to ensure it has a more cohesive brand identity and streamlines the process of reaching certain goals for users.
The following alterations have been made to the website layout:
Improved header/footer layout to strengthen site resource arrangement.
Scaled down visual elements to reach features or information more quickly.
Discarded the “Buy Books for Kids” tab to reduce unnecessary space.
Added more stylistic shapes and
icons to strengthen visual appeal.
Homepage
Programs
About
Bookstores
North Lawndale Reads
Finalized web design!
After creating the wireframe layouts for the new Open Books web design, several more changes had been made to the final version of the website design such as:
Integrated color scheme for a more consistent brand theme.
Higher contrast between logo, text,
icons, and background colors.
Enhanced visual style that captures the essence of a positive knowledge base.
Original Homepage
Original About Page
Original Programs Page
Original Bookstores Page
Original North Lawndale Reads Page
New Homepage
New About Page
New Programs Page
New Bookstores Page
New North Lawndale Reads Page
3. Conclusion
The rebranding project gave me a more in-depth comprehension on how to redesign various concepts surrounding a brand identity. Knowing how to properly redesign elements such as the purpose and meaning behind an organization has led the team and I to acquire crucial research insights.
Moving forward, I will utilize distinct techniques to approach rebranding projects in the future and ensure those are modernized for many platforms and applications. This project has allowed me to better understand what serves as effective and efficient design centering on informational and visual content of a website layout.
