You probably know about Sesame Street or Sesamstraße or Rue Sésame - depending on where you are from. A long time favorite and educational program for kids with a goal to enrich little minds and bring families closer together. With a diverse cast, a research based curriculum, and some instantly iconic characters, Sesame Street has changed children's television forever. But while we can all identify with the Muppets or the big yellow bird, have you ever heard about the brains behind the production - Sesame Workshop?
Category
Website
Date
25th June 2019
The brains behind Sesame Street
4 min. read
Sesame Workshop is a non-profit educational organization on a mission to use the presence and power of the media, educators and policy makers to help children everywhere reach their potential. Since 1969, they have revolutionized early learning through programs tailored to the needs of specific regions and focus on topics that help young children and families develop critical skills for lifelong learning. There goal is to help kids everywhere grow smarter, stronger, and kinder.
Current Status
Today, the organization has grown into a worldwide educational force for change, reaching children in more than 150 countries. Their focus is on preschool-age children because research shows they have the greatest potential to learn… and because there’s no joy like that of a preschooler. With a mission to reach the most vulnerable children, Sesame Workshop are tackling the world's biggest challenges including refugee response, foster care, autism and gender equity, to name a few. With their 50th anniversary coming up, Sesame Workshop decided it was time to establish an independent brand identity that repositions them as a meaningful mission-driven master brand with an international presence.
Process
Through a process of immersion in their cultural heritage and business objectives, we helped Sesame Workshop move away from being an invisible corporate brand behind Sesame Street, helping to highlight all their social impact initiatives worthy of support. In collaboration with Sesame Workshops internal team, we sought to capture and elevate the company's brand character; a combination of joyful experiences, heartfelt stories and real dedication to make a difference in kids' lives far beyond Sesame’s own content.
Concept
After dedicated research into the work done by Sesame Workshop, it became apparent that the red thread between all of their initiatives and stories was in fact joy. We therefore rooted their new brand position in Joy – because joy is a powerful emotion that knows no age, nationality or circumstance. It can make us smile and laugh and feel like we want to jump up and down. Not only is joy something that we see our children experiencing, it’s an emotion that we as adults experience when we are reminded of our favorite childhood memories. When Sesame Workshop conjures this feeling in us, there is no end to how far we’ll open our hearts — it becomes a driving force towards more positivity in the world. It reminds us that we are human, and gives us something to live for.
Summary
Everyone deserves joy. Unfortunately, our world isn’t exactly designed to delight. That is why Sesame Workshop is on a mission to grow kids smarter, stronger and kinder. And they have found that joy is their secret sauce. By bringing the joy of Sesame Street to communities and cultivating kindness they aim to create equality and give every child a chance at success. The new visual identity shows and encapsulates the joy Sesame Workshop creates and builds a design language and framework for where all the smiles, laughter and joy can live within.
