Edwy Woo – IBM Education & Skills

IBM Education & Skills initiatives provide learning resources and opportunities in STEM and new collar skills with a goal that all learners can participate in the future of work.
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Team

Anya Valueva
Wendi Ma
Annette Cheung
Marie Louka
Gianna Gleeson
+ many talented folks
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Role

Brand & Identity
Art Direction
Web Design
UX Design
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Year

2019 – 2022
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With an ambitious goal to ensure that all learners can participate in the future of work, IBM’s global education efforts span across audiences ranging from youth to adults and covering a multitude of topics in technology.

My role was to create a dynamic visual identity that can adapt to a range of age groups, a scalable visual system that can be used by global marketing teams, a series of digital experiences, and a badging system to mark learning achievements.

Establishing a visual spectrum.
The visual expression is designed to be a spectrum from youthful to professional. The design can move along the spectrum so that it is optimized for the audience and context.
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Youthful
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One of IBM main education initiatives is P-TECH, a program enabling students from grades 9-14 earn a post secondary degree in a STEM field. The visual expression features a more vibrant color palette and playful illustrations suitable for a younger audience.
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Professional
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Another education initiative is IBM SkillsBuild, a program supporting job seekers to prepare for a job in tech. The visual expression leans towards a more mature tone with a subdued palette and imagery that reflects a profession in the tech industry.
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Designing a scalable system.
A system of building blocks is designed for scale, allowing for a multitude of permutations yet maintaining a distinct expression.
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Building blocks
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The visual expression centers around the concept of building blocks. These blocks represent the knowledge and skills of a learner. With each additional block, the structure grows, symbolizing the learner’s progress in their building their skills.

The mechanics of this visual system is based on the law of gravity. It establishes guidance around how blocks interact in a composition and principles on movement and animation.
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Scaling through modularity.
The system of building blocks is extended by utilizing color, photography, illustrations and iconography to create a range of digital and physical touchpoints.
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Extending IBM’s design language
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It was important that the overall visual expression was aligned to the principles and system established by IBM’s master brand. At the same time, it was also designed to be a unique flavor of IBM’s expression with a youthful audience in mind.
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Optimizing for digital-first experiences.
‍The approach to the design was twofold. First it was to make sure it was aligned to IBM’s digital design system. Second it was to extend the boundaries through the use of new custom components and illustrations.
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IBM SkillsBuild
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The main challenge was to create a digital experience for four distinct persona groups - students, teachers, job seekers and organizations. The approach was to make the distinct paths clear right on the landing page, and then strategically reveal the persona specific content once the user self selects and dives deeper in the experience.
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P-TECH
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The main objectives were to highlight the partnership between IBM and schools, showcase the students, and invite schools to participate in the program. The visual expression of the building blocks was utilized throughout the experience, both to structure content and serve as interactive moments.
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IBM Skills
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The platform serves as a gateway to all skill related content and initiatives at IBM. The user is encouraged to explore by technology topic or job role. The experience is organized by a color-coded system, making it more intuitive when navigating throughout the website.
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Digital badging
As a part of the digital learning experience, the IBM Digital Badging program issues badges and credentials for learning and skills achievements. An organized yet flexible system of digital badges was established, becoming a core part of the overall visual expression.
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Continuous learning
The desire for growth and advancement is an ongoing process. These initiatives are a beginning towards a future of education equity and workforce inclusion.
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Working on the initiatives in education and skills revealed the complexity and diversity of people involved, and how learning happens in all stages of life. Providing resources at no cost and at scale has been one of the biggest challenges, highlighting the fact that it requires the effort of many collaborators working in conjunction to make it possible. These efforts will continue to evolve over time and hopefully be one step closer to an equitable and inclusive future.