Cooke School and Institute Food for Thought Gala Branding

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Cooke School and Institute is a private school in New York City that educates students with diverse developmental disabilities and backgrounds, from early childhood through young adulthood. The school envisions a world where all people with disabilities are included as valued members of their communities, leading independent and purposeful lives.

For the third year in a row, Trillion was chosen to help the school brand its annual Food for Thought gala at The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers in New York City. The special evening featured a strolling supper menu created by more than 20 of New York City’s most celebrated chefs. The invitation for this gala is always special. The theme for the year, “Navigating the World,” was chosen to express to donors how students gain independence while at Cooke and that every student’s path is different. 

We focused our design on the concept of navigation – humans in the past have used the night sky and constellations to travel through the world. The lines that connect stars are a metaphor for each individual’s journey toward independence at Cooke. We implemented a dark color palette and elegant typography that alludes to the evening theme of the event. 

We utilized pearlescent Stardream paper, which created a twinkling background for our design. We included all of the invitation inserts in a metallic silver envelope; then the envelope was wrapped and sealed with a custom-addressed label, signifying a very special invitation to anyone lucky enough to receive it.

In addition to the invitation, Trillion created an animated digital Save the Date, as well as transparent graphics applied to the large wall of windows, signage identifying the chefs and their restaurants, posters, main stage backgrounds, and step and repeat backgrounds where guests could be photographed. The tabletop centerpieces and window graphics we designed utilized student artwork.

RESULTS

The Cooke School Gala was an inspired success! They welcomed 408 guests and raised $800,000 to support Cooke’s students.