Summer Quest 2022
Client:Bucks County Free Library
Design: Branding, Print Design, & Illustration
Summer Quest is the Bucks County Free Library’s annual summer reading program that encourages families to earn rewards by completing literacy–based challenges, and activities. For several years Bucks County Free Library used the same branding and rewards system that rewarded readers with badges.
The library’s goal for this campaign was to reach 1,000,000 minutes of reading accumulated from their patrons. They knew that if they wanted to reach this goal they would need to revamp the visual design of this program to reenergize participants.
For this year’s Summer Quest the library wanted to shake things up and take readers to the great outdoors. This year’s theme required a visual rebrand, new deliverables, and new illustration styles.
Logos
The client emphasized how much they wanted to rebrand Summer Quest to feel like a summer camp. Since the program is only six weeks they agreed it should feel special and different compared to what they offer the rest of they year.
Pulling inspiration from National Parks, camp badges, and other park ephemera we created a logo system that is complex or simple depending on where it lives.
Color Palette
Bucks County Free Library is known for its expansive color palette, and they wanted to go even bigger for this campaign. A full rainbow palette keeps the design playful.
Incorporating unusual colors like peach, teal, and grape adds fun and visual interest that complements the other colors. The palette is retro revived.
Illustrations
The client knew they wanted to keep this campaign illustration-based for most of it. Pulling from some of their favorite children’s illustrators they wanted to create animal characters that served as this year’s unofficial mascots.
These characters guided participants through their reading challenges and activities and greeted them on Beanstack [BCFL online reading tracker].
Reading Passport
The reading passport replaced the reading logs and activity cards used for Summer Quest the years prior. This booklet contained all of the challenges participants would need to do to complete Summer Quest
The back of the passport included a reading log that allowed readers to track what they read and how they rated the book.
Coloring Sheets
Large coloring sheets were added to the rotation this year. These 16”x20” coloring sheets were given to participants who completed multiple challenges.
Each poster focuses on a different bookish theme including; Beach Reads, Summer Adventure, and Mystery.
Camping Essentials
New ephemera was created to promote the campaign this year. Keychains, stickers, and canteens were given out to happy campers.
Staff received new t-shirts and were consequently referred to as “camp counselors” during the six-week campaign.
Genre Posters Series
One additional goal for the library was to test out creating products to generate revenue. The library wanted to prototype this model by selling limited edition Summer Quest posters.
Similar to the coloring sheets each poster focused on similar themes. The illustration style mimics the rest of the identity, but the subjects are designed to fit any decor style all year long.