Problem
Kai Ming's fragmented identity failed to build trust with grant funders, or feel approachable to the multilingual families it served.
What I Did
Led end-to-end rebrand and UX redesign, from strategic positioning to multilingual web architecture, managing stakeholders, timelines, and cross-functional handoffs over 3+ years.
Result
93% user satisfaction rate. Staff support load cut by over 90%. Stronger institutional credibility with funders and increased enrollment inquiries.
The Problem
A brand that couldn't serve two audiences at once
Kai Ming needed to earn trust from two very different audiences simultaneously: grant funders who expect institutional credibility, and multilingual low-income families who need warmth and clarity. The existing brand did neither. The logo was outdated, the website was hard to navigate for non-English speakers, and the lack of visual consistency undermined confidence at every touchpoint. The design challenge wasn't aesthetic; it was strategic.
Design Process
Strategic decisions at every stage
01
Discovery
Interviews with parents, educators, and leadership to map trust gaps, and define what the brand needed to say to each audience
02
Brand Strategy
Positioned Kai Ming between institutional credibility and community warmth, a deliberate tension that shaped every visual decision
03
Identity System
New logo, color, type, and illustration language, designed to flex from formal grant applications to bilingual family flyers without losing coherence
04
PM & Rollout
Managed phased rollout across print, web, and campaigns, coordinating stakeholders, vendors, and dev handoff over 3+ years of ongoing brand stewardship
Brand Identity
"Potential Has No Limits" made visible
The new identity needed to hold a contradiction: institutional credibility for funders, and human warmth for families. The solution was a modular mark: stable and professional at small sizes, expressive when applied to print and environmental contexts.
Web Design
A visual system extended to the web
User research revealed the core problem: families couldn't find what they needed, and the visual experience felt cold and confusing. The redesign applied the new brand system to every web touchpoint: clear visual hierarchy, culturally-sensitive imagery, and multilingual layouts built for low-literacy users. The result was a site that communicated the same warmth and professionalism as the brand itself.
Results
Staff freed from repeat calls.
Families found what they needed.
A cohesive brand system and restructured website transformed how families experienced Kai Ming, and freed staff to focus on what they were actually hired to do.
93%
User Satisfaction
Post-launch satisfaction rate across families using the redesigned site
90%+
Staff Time Saved
Repeat phone inquiries dropped dramatically; families found answers independently online
↑
Enrollment Inquiries
Cohesive brand presence increased institutional credibility and application rates