Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism
Art Direction • Graphic Design • Branding • UI Design
The Fundamentals Online Course: 20 Experienced Faculty Teachers + 40 Modules + 100 herbs to experience
DELIVERABLE
Mood Boards, Concept Sketchs, Key Visuals, UI Style guide, Video Graphics
ROLE
Art Direction, Branding, Web Design, Graphic Design, UI Design
Video Production: Drummond West
TOOLS & SOFTWARE
Photoshop, Figma
PROJECT OVERVIEW
The Colorado School of Clinical Herbalism is an intensive, science-based institution located in Lafayette, CO. They offer a wide range of in-person classes in Western Herbalism, Integrated Nutrition, Field Botany, Aromatherapy, and Flower Essences in the Vitalist tradition, covering Fundamentals, Advanced, and Clinical training. To reach those unable to attend on-campus classes, the school sought to break into the online market with the Fundamentals of Medical Herbalism Certificate program. This comprehensive course includes over 40 modules and 300+ hours of video content, providing everything you need to take your first steps into herbal medicine or work toward becoming a Certified Clinical Herbalist.
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Our job was to create a brand, marketing material & video course content for this brand-new online course.
KEY OBJECTIVES & APPROACH
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The challenge of a large course offering requires a design that helps reduce confusion and keeps things organized for the user
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At a $5.7k price point, all course and marketing materials must have an upscale and quality look
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Design all marketing and course materials cohesively
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Be scientifically accurate in representation
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Art Direction
Mood Boards & Concepting
Client Needs & Discovery
The CSCH brand wasn't well-defined at the start of the project. Their website had an academic feel, but it lacked key branding elements such as fonts, colors, imagery, and editing styles. To address this, we guided the client through classic branding exercises to understand their brand's look, feel, and desired public perception.
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In summary, the client wanted to avoid the typical dry feel of herbalism courses. They were keen on drawing inspiration from the John Derian color wheel and preferred clean, natural, organic, and textured visuals. They desired a blend of retro and earthy elements with a clear, scientific edge.
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Below are some keywords discovered during our branding exercises, which served as the foundation for the concepting phase:
Concept 1: Retro Modern Illustrations
Each section will have its own color palette. The background will have a different, bold, art deco esc. pattern. I will incorporate organic texture throughout the entire piece whether it be paint brush strokes, wood or woven fabric. It will feel natural and organic. For each section I’d create an retro modern illustration of an herb or flower to fill the composition in an interesting way (example: fig 2-7). Here we’ll have fun playing with a whimsical yet sophisticated serif display font that will work nicely with the illustrative style. Alongside the display font we’ll pair it with a sleek sans-serif font to keep it modern.
Concept 2: Photographic Art with a Scientific Twist
I’d say this might be the most conceptual out of the bunch which might make it a bit harder to pull off without some input. I was really inspired by the photorealism in fig. 1. I could imagine applying a duotone filter/gradient map treatment to an actual image of a plant or herb in a bold color. I’d like it to feel almost like an older scientific illustration style but be bold like fig.1. On top of this photo I would illustrate bold/contrasting color drawings to accentuate parts of the plant or its benefits. A benefit example would be peppermint can be used to repel insects like mosquitoes; I would illustrate the bug with an X over it indicating the plants benefit of repelling. Another example could be that a plant helps ease anxiety, I could have dissipating squiggly lines being squished by one of the leaves on the plant. I would need some support in picking plants to feature for this concept.
Concept 3: Geometric Nature Illustrations
I was really inspired by fig. 1’s monochromatic coaster in the center of the image. Each section would have its own art deco esc. grid in its own monochromatic color scheme. In each section of the grid it will feature illustrations of a certain plant/herb or section subject matter, color, or pattern (example: fig. 5). This design will feel a bit more geometrical but I’d like to play with that a bit; maybe curving or roughing up the lines to make it more organic. Or I’ll play with the illustrative style to be bit softer without so many harsh lines.
Branding
Key Visuals
Concept 1
Key Words: Playful, Modern, Scientific, Textured, Organic, Retro but modern
Design Intent: This is concept is not only fun to look at but does a great job at introducing realistic visuals of actual herbs & flowers you will use throughout the course. The photo and graphic treatment used on the flowers gives it almost a diagram or scientific feel. I’ve introduced some light geometric/art deco patterns in the background that give visual interest yet a sense of sophistication. On top of this pattern, I’ve added some different layers of color and texture. Not only does this create interest but reminds me of the layering of herbal materials you may need to combine to create a great oil or balm.
If this concept is chosen, I can picture creating 4 more compositions. We’ll switch up the color palette, introduce a new plant/flower image, switch up the background pattern and textures. All to help uplevel the course.
Concept 2
Key Words: Playful, Authentic, Community, Scientific, Rooted, Art deco, Refined, Organic, Woven, Textured, Retro but modern
Design Intent: The geometric style feels open and welcoming. I like to think of this composition as if you’re peering over a tool box with different compartments full of natural materials such as; different flowers, seeds, oils, textures, etc. These visuals along side the natural, muted color palette bring you into nature. This grid and retro modern feel are not only fun to look at but give a level of sophistication that this is a place where you will learn how to use the fundamental tools you have in your “tool box”.
If this concept is chosen, I can picture creating 4 more compositions. We’ll switch up the color palette, maybe create a new grid pattern & add different visual elements to help uplevel the course.
Final
The client chose Concept 2! Given that there are six different sections of the course, we decided to assign each one a distinct color from the color wheel above. The imagery in each module varies based on the main subject of that section. We encountered some challenges finalizing these key visuals due to client input and the introduction of an illustrator midway through the design process. However, the client was ultimately pleased with the final outcome.
UI Design
Style Guide
Webpage UI Style Guide
Below is the branded design system and page layout template I developed based on the approved key visual branding.
Graphic Design
Video Graphics
Graphics Template and Video Application
The extensive video course content, totaling over 100 hours, along with a robust marketing campaign, required the creation of branded video graphics and animations. I identified the graphic needs within the footage and designed all necessary elements.
