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The Vida Agency
Yellow animated building under construction with construction vehicles and materials Infront of building.

Learn with Lydig

Educating the next generation of building professionals

Lydig Construction sought the support of a marketing and public relations agency to help them differentiate from the competition, position their company as THE choice in the Northwest for school construction, and to help mobilize their commitment to community outreach.

We viewed the construction underway at Northgate Elementary as an educational opportunity. It was an ideal chance to leverage the live construction occurring at the school to stimulate interest in STEAM, (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math), and to spark interest in construction-related career paths in young school aged children. Our plan was to design a holistic educational experience for students, teachers, and parents.

Approach

Our Competitive Analysis evaluated six competitors with a focus on their current educational programming, BIPOC, DBE, and W/MBE opportunities, and outreach and community engagement programs. The research revealed that popular and successful construction curriculums contained a mix of multimedia presentation, (particularly video), hands-on activities, and context (relating the activity or lesson to the student’s world and promoting hyper-local stories and activities).

Creative

Graphic teal square with text The Design Crew and 2 images of construction workers in circle frames. Graphic blue rectangle to the right with text The Plan Crew and 3 images of construction workers in circle frames. Graphic green rectangle below with text The Build Crew and 5 images of construction workers in circle frames.

We created illustrated characters to represent members of the construction crew including the architect, engineer, safety officer, and more.

Section of the Learn with Lydig website featuring an illustration of an engineer, text description, and navigation buttons.

Each character was given a short bio and interests to make them relatable to elementary school children. A mix of cultural backgrounds, races, ethnicities, and gender was prioritized to reflect the diverse make-up of the student body.

Animated graphic of woman in construction gear pointing at construction site with construction vehicles and materials behind her."

An animated video was scripted and produced for use on the Learn with Lydig landing page, enabling students to meet the (animated) crew and watch them conduct their work.

Section of the Learn with Lydig Website with text Why we created learn with lydig for teachers and students and 2 illustrations of animated pre and post construction buildings.
STEAM Team Challenges section of the Learn with Lydig website featuring illustrations of an architect man sitting at a desk drawing and woman in construction vest holding a plan set.

The “Learn with Lydig, Level 1” interactive webpage was appropriately developed for youth users offering an easily scrollable design, visual appeal, and accessible language. Fun built-in features include activities to stimulate children’s interest in STEAM while simultaneously building their self-esteem. The website also includes resources for teachers and parents.

Illustration entitled Meet the Design Crew featuring a man sitting at a green desk labeled architect and a woman in construction clothing labeled engineer who is running out of the room holding two plan sets. Learn with Lydig Level 1 logo and website address Learn with Lydig.com.
Illustration of a construction site entitled Meet the Plan Crew featuring a project manager in construction uniform walking towards a virtual construction coordinator who is flying a drone. In the background a building with Lydig logo on it.
Illustration of Safety Officer in construction uniform holding up first aid kit with text Work safe Everday and Learn with Lydig.com. Learn with Lydig level 1 logo
Illustration entitled Meet the Build Crew featuring an iron worker and a machine operator working on construction site. Learn with Lydig Level 1 logo and Lydig.com.

On-site signage and fencing were designed to familiarize students with the characters and allow them to connect their online construction learnings directly with the live construction happening on the ground. “Lydig Lookouts” with socially distanced stations were developed to afford those passing by to peek into the construction site and watch the transformation in-action.

Outcome

Our work seeks to set and model a new industry standard by creating detailed, clear, and accessible documentation of Lydig’s community engagement and outreach programs. This project has empowered Lydig to foster ongoing community relationships and has contributed to Lydig’s successful pursuit of new work.