The Academy grew from a long-time friendship and collaboration between founder Aaron Stern and composer Leonard Bernstein. Both shared a desire for exploring non-traditional methods of learning — where freedom and creativity could thrive. Encouraged by Bernstein, Stern put his pedagogy into action, and founded the Academy for the Love of Learning.

After more than two decades of mostly in-person programs at its Santa Fe campus, the Academy wanted to expand its offerings and find new audiences. The Academy signaled this evolution with a rebrand and and brought on Upswell to modernize and enhance its web presence — and program microsites — to reflect their new direction.

The new website expresses the heart of their work: Slowing down, cultivating curiosity, and creating space for transformation with practices and programs that unleash a love of learning — no matter who or where you are.

Client: Academy for the Love of Learning
Studio: Upswell / Perennial Strategy
Role: Design Director
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The Maine Historical Society wanted to update the brand to better reflect its mission of sharing Maine's story in rich and powerful ways to contemporary audiences. Through a series of workshops, stakeholder interviews, and site visits, Upswell worked with MHS to develop criteria for the new brand framework, identify old and new audience segments, and test visual approaches. The result was a framework that would ‘lead with Maine,’ increase engagement, and bring MHS into its third century with a shared plan for its future.

The new identity is a bold and contemporary departure that lends a more approachable voice. Emphasizing “Maine Historical” reflects the natural language staff and the community use when referring to MHS. “Character-led” is the primary visual strategy: spotlighting diverse voices and breaking traditional paradigms while highlighting Maine icons. A suite of sub-brands was created to align MHS programs with the new identity — while communicating their unique purpose.

As the website was the inaugural expression of the new brand, Upswell worked with MHS staff to define a more visitor-centric user experience, model visual guidance for asset creation, and develop a house language style to ensure consistency. The site was built using a flexible system of templates and components, empowering MHS staff to build future pages with ease.

Client: Maine Historical Society
Studio: Upswell
Role: Design Director — Identity System & Style Guide, Website UI & Motion Art Direction

Behind the stone lions guarding the steps of the Fifth Avenue branch, the New York Public Library added a new visitor center to help visitors orient themselves to the building and its rich collections. We created a suite of touch-table experiences to help acquaint them with NYPL’s history and all they have to offer.

Client: New York Public Library
Studio: Upswell
Role: Design Director — Multi-touch Tables, UI

The Wonder Studio gallery sidesteps traditional educational and interpretive methods, inviting kids and kids at heart to see and create art through play and performance.

The project included a new brand identity, exhibition design, and digital interfaces for three unique installations: The Colorscape where visitors use their bodies and movements to explore immersion in color, form, and light; The Studio, where visitors digitally remix and add their own creative mark to art from the collection; and the Artquarium where curators display theme-inspired micro-exhibitions of art from their rich and diverse collection.

Client: Chrysler Museum of Art
Studio: Upswell / Plus & Greater Than
Role: Design Director — Identity System & Style Guide, Exhibition Graphics, Multi-touch Table UI & Motion Art Direction)

The Rangeley Lakes Region Historical Society preserves the history of this popular outdoor resort destination in northwest Maine. In addition to managing two museums, the organization is an active community hub and defacto visitor center.

The RLRHS needed to revamp its brand identity to connect with a broader audience and align two current locations as it prepares to fundraise for facility expansions. We worked with their executive director and board members to develop a brand strategy, new name, and visual identity that can evolve with the organization.

Client: Rangeley Lakes Region Historical Society
Studio: Upswell
Role: Design Director

Located at the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) in Portland, Maine, LabVenture is a NASA-funded interactive learning environment that introduces Maine’s fifth and sixth graders — many from Maine’s rural communities — to scientific investigation and the fundamentals of data literacy. The program invites students into a choreographed two-hour team-based experience that includes touchtable activities for collecting species data and examining sea surface temperature changes using NASA data. Students save their work in an online field notebook that is accessible from their classrooms after the field trip.

Project included branding, UI design and art direction, environmental graphics, and a donor wall treatment.

Client: Gulf of Maine Research Institution
Studio: Upswell
Role: Design Director — Identity System & Style Guide, UI Art Direction, Environmental / Donor Graphics

To grow its audience and reputation as a recognized leader in human rights education, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) has been fortifying its offerings for students and teachers. The museum asked us to create a flagship digital learning experience that explores upstanders, or individuals who have taken a stand for a human rights issue.

As a capstone activity, students are tasked to become upstanders themselves. Using the site, they explore issues they are personally passionate about, gather and share their knowledge, and lead others toward change through real-world, tangible action. Both site content and structure demonstrate for students the step-by-step process of discovering a passion issue, researching it, and activating oneself and others to make a change.

Visit the Site

Client: Canadian Museum for Human Rights
Studio: Upswell
Role: Design Director — UI

Communication Arts 2020 Interactive Awards Shortlist

Interaction AwardCore77, 2019

GLAMi Award Winner: Poster Making Activity, Museums and the Web, 2019

Using its recent Tiffany Studios' Lotus Lamp acquisition, the Toledo Museum of Art wanted to pilot test a more in-depth, non-traditional digital label experience for visitors. Going beyond materials and provenance, visitors can navigate a 360° 3D render of the lamp, learn more about the artisans, and design their version of the iconic lamp.

Client: Toledo Museum of Art
Studio: Upswell
Role: UI

American Excursionist is a destination management company providing luxury travel programs for affluent visitors from abroad seeking bespoke experiences in the United States, Canada, and The Caribbean. Their strength is rooted in effortlessly making the extraordinary happen — offering stylish, modern experiences for the jet set. Bespoke trips include connections to local experts, multilingual support, five-star accommodations, VIP access, and itineraries tailored to the visitor’s passions. 

Scout was tasked with bringing these experiences to life through the development of a logo, identity system, brand guide, visual language system, catalog, and event applications.

Client: American Excursionist
Studio: Scout & Co.
Role: Creative Director

Council designed the Comic City, USA exhibit for the Oregon Historical Society as a love letter to Oregon's comic scene, past and present. From 19th century political cartoons to comic books, to graphic novels, and web comics, it highlighted iconic artists from around the state. The 3,000 SF space was developed to engage visitors with a wide range of artifacts, ephemera, and interactive experiences. Visitors could explore the process, create their own comics, and dress up as a character in a comic scene.

Client: The Oregon Historical Society
Studio: Council
Role: Art Director
Media: Sticky
Illustrator: Patrick Long

2020 commemorated the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment, granting women the right to vote. To reflect on this historic moment, the Library of Congress created a temporary exhibition dedicated to America’s suffrage movement. Shall Not Be Denied profiles the stories, strategies, struggles, and triumphs of women who changed the course of American history.

The project included an introductory film at the entrance and a communal multitouch table experience at the end that allows visitors to seamlessly browse the stories of more than 100 suffragists. The table’s multimodal navigation encourages visitors to effortlessly jump between different content views, browsing hundreds of photographs and artifacts in a short session as well as a map-based timeline of the movement’s successes and failures leading up to ratification. The experience leverages the Library’s rich collection of suffrage ephemera and early 20th century photographs.

Client: Library of Congress
Studio: Upswell
Role: Design Director, UX/UI

Recognized for developing culturally and commercially significant innovations — from the transistor and information theory to photovoltaic cells and UNIX — this "idea factory" is now known as Nokia Bell Labs, Nokia's industrial research arm. The 2021 redesign featured a visual refresh that foregrounded Bell Lab’s more recent efforts including special events, publications, speaker series, and podcasts while still honoring its heritage of hosting cutting-edge innovators.

Client: Nokia Bell Labs
Studio: Upswell
Role: Design Director (Website UI)

World Pulse is a nonprofit social network that connects women worldwide for change. Their members are a vibrant, welcoming community of changemakers uniting and empowering women through technology. World Pulse's optimism, global connectivity, and desire for bold impact informed a complete re-brand, expressed through a new identity, brand guide, presentation templates, infographics, and digital applications.

Client: World Pulse
Studio: Scout & Co // Cary Design Group
Role: Co-Creative Director

Inside Out is a permanent human anatomy exhibit at the Nevada Discovery Museum. Visitors dive into the curiosities of the human body through hands-on exhibits, digital experiences, and exploring artifacts. Designed to attract a more mature audience as the museum transitions from a children's museum to a more traditional science center, the exhibit aims to uncover the amazing ways human bodies work, grow, age, and heal.

Client: The Terry Lee Wells Nevada Discovery Museum
Studio: Council
Role: Art Director
Media: Upswell
Illustrator: Bryce Wymer

In Moose Mission, players design and manage a Minnesota ecosystem as a game-based platform for understanding why the state's moose population is in steep decline. They build ideal habitats, introduce predators, and react to events out of their control (weather, climate change) while trying to keep the moose population in a healthy range. Custom illustrations and sound effects add whimsy and delight while still reflecting scientific accuracy. A badge achievement system rewards kids for their efforts.

As a companion to the game, a microsite offers students and educators more insight and data to better understand the complex ecosystem and conservation factors impacting Minnesota moose.

Client: Minnesota Zoo
Studio: Upswell
Role: Design Director, UI
Illustrator: Anna Hurley