Valley Education for Employment System (VALEES) is a regional delivery system established by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) to provide curriculum and project development, ensure efficiency, access, and equity in career and technical education, and foster local business and industry partnerships with education at all levels. 

VALEES provided me with the phrase, "CTE: Learning That Works," and requested a logo, poster, t-shirt, and sticker inspired by this slogan. Because CTE stands for Career and Technical Education, I was drawn to the idea of a blueprint concept. Within the parameters of the block letters "CTE," I began drawing doodles/symbols to represent each of the classes offered within the Career and Tech department.

Further researching important aspects of CTE classes, I identified common phrases such as "hands-on learning" and "skill-based careers" and incorporated them into the design as markups or notes to this "blueprint sketch." To effectively fill some of the negative space in the background, I added gears to keep consistency among the brand's identity. Below is the final logo design:

Although I wanted to incorporate a graph paper background into this design, I knew it would be too detailed and difficult to view on a t-shirt or sticker. I decided to save this idea for the poster, and below are the final apparel and sticker mockups:

Expanding on the blueprint concept, I began by applying the graph paper background to different areas of the poster to fill negative space, as well as other relevant doodles and drawings. This poster was expected to be displayed in classrooms to advertise the CTE classes available at different schools, so customizable areas were created to make these personal to the school displaying them. Using some of the symbols and doodles created within the letters, I expanded on those designs to advertise the programs students can explore in CTE. I also decided to reverse the colors of "CTE" and the accompanying images to establish a visual hierarchy that captures the students' attention to further explore this poster. Red and blue were used effectively to continue the handwritten, sketch concept and symbolize red and blue pens, similarly to the thumbtacks, paper, and tape. The top left gear in the original logo was changed to a saw to keep the visual weight and fill negative space while allowing a gear to be placed in the top right for more educational information. Finally, I added another gear to the bottom left to display the VALEES logo. Below is the final poster design:

All designs were created using Adobe Illustrator.