CoachArt

CoachArt connects caring individuals or “coaches” with kids affected by serious illness. These amazing kids let CoachArt know what they’d like to learn, then CoachArt’s app pairs them with a skilled mentor who can help teach them something new, from arts and athletics to gaming and ukulele lessons.

CoachArt’s programs were very successful, but their branding felt a little stale. They looked to HeartSpark to help refine their brand so it felt as dynamic, fun, and innovative as their mission. Working together with their brand manager, Sarah, we helped step up their brand style while also preserving two decades of their hard-won reputation and recognition.

The CoachArt team wanted to keep their logo and signature orange the same, so we built a color palette that would complement both. To make the orange feel more vibrant, we added its complementary color – a dark, saturated blue. To offset that bold combo, we added lighter transitional colors like light blue and yellow to add energy and playfulness.

Pro tip: If your nonprofit’s color palette feels stale but you don’t want to change the look dramatically, consider adding some tertiary colors to inject new life into your style and have more color options to work with!

Most CoachArt kids have their lessons at home, so photos are often taken by parents or Zoom screenshots from instructors. These photos are a bit of a mixed bag, so figuring out a way to make all of them feel like part of the CoachArt brand was a unique challenge. We landed on a series of styled frames and design elements around the photo so the original images – even the amateur shots – feel special and on-brand while retaining their authenticity.

Using the CoachArt Connect app is super easy, but we had to visualize it in a way that made sense for people who have never used it. So we created animated videos to demonstrate the app more clearly. This brought movement and style to their website, while also showing their innovative approach to connecting kids with coaches.

Lauren illustrated these images, then worked with a freelance animator to bring the movement to life. We intentionally kept words minimal and did not add voiceover so the CoachArt team could repurpose the clips over and over again.

When reimagining the new CoachArt website, we knew accessibility and language translation were a top priority so that more parents could access helpful information and register their kiddos for CoachArt’s programs. We started by cleaning up the sitemap, consolidating pages where necessary, and building with Elementor so that maintaining the site would be easier on the CoachArt team.

We installed AccessiBe for screen-reading services and teamed up with Caroline Griffin to configure Fundraise Up so supporting CoachArt would be even easier for donors.

The new functionality paired with the bold design style has not only been a fresh jolt of inspiration for the internal CoachArt team, but is attracting more families of children facing chronic illness and engaging more volunteers.